Immigration Law

Founder of Big Immigration Firm Gets 2 Years, Fined $750K in Visa Case

The former founder of one of the West Coast’s biggest immigration law firms was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for filing fraudulent visa applications. In addition to the prison term, Daniel Korenberg, 58, was also sentenced to serve six months of home confinement, with electronic monitoring, after his…

Mar 10, 2008 11:22 PM CDT

Md. Attorney and Assistant Charged in Asylum Fraud Case

A Maryland attorney and his legal assistant are facing criminal charges for allegedly submitting falsified paperwork to federal agencies on behalf of asylum clients and coaching them to falsify their testimony. Indicted last week in federal court were Patrick G. Tzeuton, 41, of Silver Spring and Henri Marcel Nzone (or…

Mar 5, 2008 9:55 PM CST

How Alston & Bird Improved Retention by 6 Percent

An Altanta-based law firm that recently made a top 100 list of the best companies to work for explains how it helped improve employee retention in an article published in Business Law Today, a publication of the ABA Section of Business Law. Alston & Bird’s retention rate jumped by 6…

Feb 25, 2008 7:06 PM CST

Departing Airline Passengers Detained, Prosecuted ... Then Deported

As individuals stand in line at the airport waiting to fly home, it might seem that arresting them for violating immigration laws—so that they can be jailed, tried and deported to the very country to which they had planned to travel at their own expense—isn’t the most effective use of…

Feb 25, 2008 5:38 PM CST

2nd Circuit: Lawyer ‘Failed Spectacularly’ in Immigration Case

Like too many other immigrants, Garfield Livern St. Valentine Aris was not well-served by a number of lawyers, the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says in an opinion yesterday. In fact, his initial counsel “failed spectacularly,” a three-judge appellate panel writes, after a paralegal misinformed him…

Feb 21, 2008 9:03 PM CST

U.S. Wrongfully Arrests, Even Deports Citizens, But How Many?

A top immigration official admitted in congressional testimony yesterday that the U.S. has detained American citizens on mistaken claims that they are illegal immigrants, but says this is “extremely” rare. However, a McClatchy Newspapers investigation suggests that the problem may be more widespread: A 2006 study and anecdotal accounts indicate…

Feb 14, 2008 7:55 PM CST

Novel Issue in Cyber Porn Case: Can Man Take Fifth re Password?

A child pornography case concerning illicit images allegedly stored in the defendant’s laptop computer has created what experts say is a novel Fifth Amendment issue. Can the defendant assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to stymie federal agents seeking his password in order to access the encryption-protected images and…

Feb 8, 2008 12:26 AM CST

Russian Lawyer Seeks Political Asylum Over Client Wiretapping Case

A Russian lawyer who is a well-known critic of the government there is seeking political asylum in the U.S. because of his legal work. Boris Kuznetsov, 64, claims he is being criminally prosecuted in his home country because of his efforts to obtain a court ruling that his client, a…

Feb 6, 2008 6:13 PM CST

For Mail-Order Brides, Happily Ever After

Layli Miller-Muro isn’t down on love. She doesn’t hate men, and she doesn’t want to prevent them from following their hearts—even to other countries.

Feb 1, 2008 4:32 PM CST

Fla. Field-Workers File Class Action Claiming Wage Violations

In an unusual move that has caught the attention of local South Florida residents, several field-workers have filed a federal lawsuit contending that the owner of the farm at which they have been harvesting beans for years has underpaid them and hundreds of other laborers. The basis of their suit,…

Jan 9, 2008 10:12 PM CST

Immigrants Suing to Force Action on Citizenship Apps

After waiting five years, a veteran federal government employee has decided to sue to force movement on his citizenship petition. Rodrigo Alvear has worked as a federal employee, including three years in the Army, for 30 years. The Chicago Tribune (reg. req.) reports Alvear is among hundreds of thousands awaiting…

Jan 4, 2008 5:01 PM CST

Judge Appears Unlikely to Block Law Penalizing Hiring of Illegal Immigrants

A federal judge appears unwilling to block a new Arizona law cracking down on employers that hire illegal immigrants. U.S. District Judge Neil Wake of Phoenix said at a hearing yesterday that he was not inclined to issue an injunction to prevent the law from going into effect on Jan.…

Dec 19, 2007 2:11 PM CST

Arizona’s Crackdown on Hiring Illegal Immigrants Faces Court Test

A federal judge on Tuesday will consider whether to block an Arizona law that threatens to pull the business licenses of companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The law, scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, is one of the toughest measures enacted by states to battle illegal immigration, the New…

Dec 14, 2007 3:57 PM CST

Bay Area Law Firms Form Immigration Task Force

A coalition of San Francisco Bay Area attorneys, including some of the area’s biggest-name law firms, has formed a task force to represent immigrants who may have been targeted in unconstitutional federal raids. Among the law firms who pooled their resources to put together a 60-attorney pro bono defense team…

Dec 5, 2007 5:56 PM CST

New ID Rules for Travel Outside U.S.

In a little over one month, more stringent identification requirements will apply to Americans who travel abroad, even if they are only going to Canada or Mexico or the Caribbean. Under a new law that takes effect on Jan. 31, 2008, adults and children who don’t have a passport will…

Dec 4, 2007 5:32 PM CST