Interesting Events & Cases

Earlier this month, I appeared in the Atlanta Immigration Court for only the third trial of my career. I do my best to avoid going to trial – either by taking cases that I think can be resolved in other ways or I refer the cases that will likely go to trial to more experienced […]

In 2014, a family from rural Georgia hired me to help them on the long immigration journey of filing an I-130, I-601A provisional waiver and then consular process an immigrant visa through Ciudad Juarez. Israel had been in the U.S., undocumented since he was a teenager. His wife, Gloria, came from a Mexican family but was born in the United

I don’t think 2015 was quite the year anyone in the immigration field hoped for. We had dreams of expanded DACA and DAPA. We had hopes for higher asylum grant rates, the closure of family immigration detention facilities, and the broader use of prosecutorial discretion. None of these things happened. Yet, small victories were won

Last week marked the unofficial beginning of the holiday shopping season with Black Friday. I am not one to get carried away with braving the early morning chaos at the mall to score a good deal, but if you are or if you got all of your holiday shopping done already – bravo! I haven’t

An Ombudsman is a wonderful thing and it’s a too-little used resource in the immigration world. The USCIS Office of the Ombudsman is responsible for working with USCIS to resolve problems that applicants have with their cases. While this office is always the last resort, sometimes no amount of “lawyering” or liaison work can get USCIS to

I’ve been very lucky. In over five years of practice, I have never had a U visa denied. But, when U visas make up one-third of your practice, a denial is bound to happen at some point. We filed an application for Juana (name changed) in the summer of 2013. Her niece had been kidnapped and assaulted

Sometimes it’s good to be reminded about the good in the world when we’re constantly surrounded by disappointment and despair. I had one of those weeks last week and with my disgust with no immigration reform, it was nice to switch from being cynical to being hopeful for the future. Klinke Immigration is a co-sponsor

My fifth client finally won her case. I’ll call her Lili. She’s from Vietnam. Nearly two years ago, Lili hired me just after my office opened in October 2012. Lili speaks no English, and no one in my office speaks Vietnamese, so working with her was a challenge. She brought friends and family in to

There are some weeks where nothing seems to go right. Thankfully, I haven’t had one of those in a while (and I hope I’m not jinxing myself now). We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good news, and I want to share some of the stories with you. Two VAWA Adjustment of Status cases were approved.

When someone is a victim of sexual assault or abuse, there are nearly no areas of that person’s life that are untouched. Daily routines are charged with memories, friends, and family can turn into adversaries, love, and affection are tainted with suspicion. Imagine how difficult life would be if you were a victim here in