On March 16, 2018 the principal attorney of our firm, Desmond P. FitzGerald, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security [1], in the U.S. District Court in Boston, because USCIS officials falsified records of an asylum proceeding. The lawsuit states that a woman who filed an application seeking asylum was ordered to appear before an immigration officer on March 14, 2018. She appeared with her attorney at the scheduled date and time, but when she did not respond to some inappropriate questions at the instruction of her attorney, she was ordered by the immigration officials to leave and was told that they would record her as having failed to appear at the interview. The next day, the Department of Homeland Security issued a notice stating that they had recorded her as not having appeared at the interview.
“An applicant for asylum [2] naturally faces numerous obstacles, but when government officials falsify a record of proceeding, apart from this being illegal, it makes it nearly impossible to have their asylum case approved” said attorney Desmond P. FitzGerald [3], of FitzGerald Law Company.
Failing to appear for an interview with immigration officials has drastic consequences for an immigrant, including not being eligible for a work permit as well as possibly being subjected to removal / deportation proceedings.
A preliminary hearing was held on March 29, 2018 at the U.S. District Court by Judge Saris and the government has been ordered to file their response by April 25, 2018. We will be reporting more on this as matters develop.
This important lawsuit was covered by Boston’s NPR News Station in its program “All Things Considered”. Hear the NPR audio recording or read the WBUR publication: An Asylum Seeker Answered Interview Questions At An Appointment. Government Officials Say She Never Showed Up [4]
We would like to invite you to share this newsletter with your family and friends as it is important that this information be widely known.
Respectfully,
The FitzGerald Law Company Team
Successful track record serving the Massachusetts Community for over 20 years with all their legal needs in Immigration [5], Criminal [6] and Personal Injury Law [7]