SCOTUS rules for Jamaican immigrant fighting mandatory deportation after pot guilty plea

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled for a Jamaican immigrant trying to avoid mandatory deportation after police discovered a small amount of marijuana in his car during a 2007 traffic stop. The court ruled for Adrian Moncrieffe in a 7-2 decision (PDF). The amount of marijuana found in his car…

Apr 23, 2013 4:11 PM CDT

2nd lawyer takes plea in immigration fraud case; a total of 8 attorneys were charged

A New York lawyer has taken a plea in a massive immigration conspiracy case involving at least 10 law firms accused of submitting bogus asylum applications. John Lin,who works for an unidentified Manhattan law firm, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Manhattan to conspiring to commit immigration fraud,…

Apr 16, 2013 11:07 PM CDT

Lawyer accused of operating massive immigration scheme gets 5 years

A New York immigration lawyer accused of earning millions of dollars by processing tens of thousands of falsified immigration applications, continuing to work on them even after he fled to Canada in 2006, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Earl Seth David, 49, tearfully apologized before he…

Apr 11, 2013 3:35 PM CDT

Slavery continues to haunt the modern world, but efforts to eradicate it are growing

Apr 1, 2013 10:00 AM CDT

Judge’s ‘justice corps’ idea would help immigrants and young lawyers in a tight job market

A federal appeals judge is concerned that low-income immigrants won’t be able to find legal help if national immigration reform becomes law. Judge Robert Katzmann of the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is proposing a solution: a justice corps of young lawyers who are dispatched to community…

Mar 21, 2013 12:39 PM CDT

Internet marriage ceremonies on the rise as immigrants get hitched with overseas spouses

Online video connection services such as Skype and Google Hangout are spurring a trend: Internet marriages. Members of immigrant communities are increasingly getting hitched to people overseas in video ceremonies, the New York Times reports. The legal arrangement, called a proxy marriage, occurs without the presence of one of the…

Mar 12, 2013 11:30 AM CDT

Letters: Punishing lawyer jerks

Mar 1, 2013 10:50 AM CST

Justices will probe Arizona’s voter registration law

Mar 1, 2013 9:30 AM CST

Due to looming federal budget cuts, some immigration detainees are released nationwide

Federal immigration officials say they have been releasing an unspecified number of detainees being held for deportation because of massive mandatory budget cuts that are scheduled to begin Friday if Congress doesn’t act in the meantime to prevent them. Although a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman says those let…

Feb 26, 2013 10:15 PM CST

SCOTUS: Chicago woman fighting deportation can’t benefit from 2010 decision on lawyer duty to warn

Some criminal defendants whose lawyers failed to warn them about the immigration consequences of guilty pleas won’t be able to benefit from a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision. The defendants won’t benefit if their conviction was final before March 31, 2010, the date of the decision in Padilla v. Kentucky,…

Feb 20, 2013 4:04 PM CST

Hells Angels, Juggalos claim they are being unfairly singled out by law enforcement

Feb 1, 2013 10:29 AM CST

Undocumented Fla. bar applicant gets ‘deferred action’ work permit; will law license be next?

A Florida State University law graduate has won a deportation deferral and a work permit under the deferred-action program for young immigrants living in the U.S. without proper documentation that was started last year by the executive branch. And that could help José Godínez-Samperio win a Florida Supreme Court ruling…

Jan 17, 2013 9:10 PM CST

Fugitive Immigration Lawyer Arrested After 2 Years on the Run, Authorities Say

A Utah immigration lawyer who has been considered a fugitive since violating pretrial release conditions in a federal visa fraud case has been caught at the U.S. border, near a California-Mexico entry point. James Hector Alcala, 44, was criminally charged in 2009, along with his law firm and other defendants,…

Jan 9, 2013 10:00 PM CST

The Dream Bar: Some Children Illegally Living in the United States Grow Up to Want to Be Attorneys

Jan 1, 2013 10:59 AM CST

Should Public Policy Favor Inclusion When It Comes to Bar Admissions?

Jan 1, 2013 10:49 AM CST