Dear Friends,
In June we shared with you a decision from the Superior Court [1] that might have a big impact for certain immigrants giving them the opportunity to fight again for their removal cases.
Today we want to share the story of one of our clients who benefited from this decision.
Mario is a 40 year old individual form El Salvador who attempted to enter the United States in 2006 and was detained by the border Patrol (Immigration). After a couple of days in detention, Mario was released and was given a paper document titled “Notice to Appear” (NTA) that ordered him to appear before the Immigration Court. The NTA however did not contain a specific date or time for the hearing, instead it stated that the date and time of the hearing was “To Be Determined” (TBD)
Mario never received any other notice from the Immigration court about the hearing date. Eventually he learned that the Immigration Court had schedule a hearing and since he never appeared at that hearing, he was issued an order of removal / deportation.
After almost 10 years of being told that his case did not have any possibilities for success, he approached our office. Our immigration lawyers [2] immediately filed a request for all his records with the Immigration Court through a FOIA Request (Freedom of Information Act).
The records confirmed than an Order of Removal in Absentia had been issued because he failed to appear at the hearing the Court had scheduled. This order meant that Mario was ineligible for almost any benefit under the Immigration Law that would allow him to remain in the U.S. The FOIA results however also verified the fact that the Notice to Appear did not contain the specific date or time for his hearing.
As a recent ruling from the Supreme Court determined that a Notice to Appear (NTA) that does not specify a date or time for a hearing, is invalid (See Pereira v. Sessions. 138 S. Ct. 2105, 2108 (2018) [3]), our office decided to file a Motion to Reopen with the Immigration Court (Motion to Vacate a Deportation Order) and the Court granted our Motion.
Now that Mario does not have a Removal / Deportation Order against him, he is eligible to apply for Cancellation of Removal (10 year law) [4] and eventually, he may become an Legal Permanent Resident.
If you or someone that you know have an NTA without a specific date and time [5], or you believe you may qualify for any immigration benefit, call our office in Boston to schedule an initial meeting with one of our immigration lawyers [2] at (617) 303-2600 (ext. 0) or schedule your appointment online [6].
Respectfully,
The FitzGerald Law Company Team
Successful track record serving the Massachusetts Community for over 20 years with all their legal needs.