Immigration Court Victory Leads to U.S. Citizenship
Josefina was born and grew up in the Dominican Republic. When she was eighteen years old, her U.S. citizen father petitioned for her to come to the USA as his unmarried child. While she was waiting to immigrate to the USA, she married a man who was a permanent resident of the USA. At her interview in the American Embassy in Santo Domingo, Josefina never told the Consular Officer that she had gotten married. She knew that, had she admitted that she had gotten married, the Consular Officer would have found her to be ineligible for an immigrant visa.
Josefina obtained her immigrant visa and entered the USA as a permanent resident. Several months later, she gave birth to a son. Once her son entered kindergarten, Josefina joined the U.S. workforce. She has been working full-time in the insurance industry for nearly twenty years. Josefina and her husband got divorced in 2002.
Seven years ago, Josefina drove to Pennsylvania, from Washington Heights (in Manhattan), to visit a girlfriend. During that visit, the girlfriend’s husband asked her if she would be willing to take a package of with her on her return trip. Josefina said: Yes; no problem. The package contained cocaine, and Josefina ended up getting arrested. She pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. Josefina had to pay a fine, and was put on probation for five years.
Josefina tried to continue living as she had done before her arrest and conviction. She took care of her son, worked, paid her bills, and led a law abiding life. On her last visit to her probation officer, ICE officers took Josefina into custody. She was put in a county jail in New Jersey. Josefina was subject to “mandatory detention.” She could not get an immigration bond. Her removal proceedings took place in New York City. That is when Josefina’s family retained me to represent Josefina in Immigration Court. At that point, her son was 20 years old.
Josefina and I applied for both Cancellation of Removal and a special waiver to overcome the fact that Josefina had originally immigrated to the USA fraudulently. We had to wait four months for the final hearing. During those four months, I visited Josefina six times. Her family cooperated with me, and brought to my office many of Josefina’s documents and papers, which I, in turn, presented to the Immigration Judge. I made sure that her son would be a good witness at the time of the final hearing.
The day of the final hearing, Josefina was extremely nervous, but she did a fine job of answering the many questions that were put to her. She won her case, and the DHS did not appeal. Josefina regained her freedom the same day. However, she still had work to do. While she was detained by ICE, she had to give up her rental apartment. But Josefina got back on her feet pretty quickly. She then asked me to help her apply for naturalization. I was happy to do it.
At the naturalization interview, among other things, Josefina explained to the Examiner what led up to her arrest and conviction. In addition, she did not have any problems with the English and civics tests. The USCIS approved her application, and six weeks later Josefina took the oath of citizenship.
- JUDGE ORDERS ICE TO FREE DETAINED IMMIGRANT CHILDREN BECAUSE OF COVID-19 - June 30, 2020
- JOE BIDEN AND TRUMP SURROGATE DISCUSS RACE RELATIONS AT AN ASIAN AMERICAN TOWN HALL - June 30, 2020
- YOU ARE WELCOME TO CONTACT ME FOR A FREE CONSULTATION - June 30, 2020
- VICTORY IN A BATTLE AGAINST INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL - September 20, 2019
- SUCCESS IN SMOOTHLY OBTAINING PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR A GAY I-601A WAIVER APPLICANT - September 20, 2019
- HOW YOUR CASE IS PRESENTED TO THE USCIS OR THE COURT MATTERS - September 20, 2019
- USCIS HELPS SECURE CONVICTION IN ALBANY COUNTY VISA FRAUD CASE - September 20, 2019
- DHS NEW RULE WILL TAKE EFFECT ON OCTOBER 15, 2019 AND MAY AFFECT YOU - September 20, 2019
- VICTORY ON A BATTERED SPOUSE CASE - October 15, 2018
- A MEXICAN MAN JUST WON CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL (10-YEAR GREEN CARD) - October 15, 2018