If driving hours just to end up in Boston traffic and paying $35.00 for parking weren't reasons enough to hope for a Northern New England immigration court in Manchester -- here's another reason from the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), which is part of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Boston Immigration court received 8,527 matters in FY 2009 but was only able to complete 7,595 matters. At this rate (about 1,000 per year) they are likely to become hopelessly backlogged in just a very short time.
Northern New England cases account for more than half of that excess (about 650 cases in FY 2009) if cases from Lowell, MA or Lawrence, MA were included on the Manchester docket (as they are just as accessible to Manchester as they are to Boston) that would likely solve the backlog problem.
click the title above to go to the EOIR Statistical Yearbook
Showing posts with label immigration court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immigration court. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Our overloaded immigration courts - latimes.com
Our overloaded immigration courts - latimes.com
A recent report by the American Bar Assn. calls for making the court system independent of the Justice Department to reduce "public skepticism" and increase respect, and paints a harrowing picture in which final decisions are rushed, haphazard and inconsistent. At times the outcome of removal proceedings depends less on the facts of an immigrant's case than on which judge hears the case, the report says. It calls for hiring 100 additional immigration judges as soon as possible, adding new training and requiring more written, reasoned decisions from judges.
RAD~At least I am not alone in noticing this. We'll take one in Manchester please!
A recent report by the American Bar Assn. calls for making the court system independent of the Justice Department to reduce "public skepticism" and increase respect, and paints a harrowing picture in which final decisions are rushed, haphazard and inconsistent. At times the outcome of removal proceedings depends less on the facts of an immigrant's case than on which judge hears the case, the report says. It calls for hiring 100 additional immigration judges as soon as possible, adding new training and requiring more written, reasoned decisions from judges.
RAD~At least I am not alone in noticing this. We'll take one in Manchester please!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Lawyers Back Creating New Immigration Courts - NYTimes.com
Lawyers Back Creating New Immigration Courts - NYTimes.com
By JULIA PRESTON
Published: February 8, 2010
Responding to pleas from immigration judges and lawyers who say the nation’s immigration courts are faltering under a crushing caseload, the American Bar Association called Monday for Congress to scrap the current system and create a new, independent court for immigration cases.
RAD ~ This is probably a good idea...whatever they decide please locate a judge in NH! It makes no sense for the people of ME, NH, VT to fight Boston traffic to go to court (or even worse have to go all the way to Hartford, CT as some Vermonters do)!
By JULIA PRESTON
Published: February 8, 2010
Responding to pleas from immigration judges and lawyers who say the nation’s immigration courts are faltering under a crushing caseload, the American Bar Association called Monday for Congress to scrap the current system and create a new, independent court for immigration cases.
RAD ~ This is probably a good idea...whatever they decide please locate a judge in NH! It makes no sense for the people of ME, NH, VT to fight Boston traffic to go to court (or even worse have to go all the way to Hartford, CT as some Vermonters do)!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
President Obama Aunt Zeituni Onyango Fights Deportation - ABC News
Risky case to take if you're her lawyer - how are you going to look if she loses? Kenyan asylum cases are not always easy. I have won a good number of them but not all of them. I don't remember having any Kenyan asylum cases before judge Shapiro. He is a fair-minded judge but he's no pushover. If she doesn't have the case she won't be granted. As a civil service employee he isn't going to be fired for not going along (even the Bush administration wouldn't have tried to pull that - I think?!?) Even if higher-ups in the Justice Department tried to lean on him - Judge Shapiro can retire any time he wants to - there's no leverage. If she's granted asylum it'll be because she makes the case.
Monday, October 19, 2009
New Principal Legal Advisor for ICE
I copied this story directly from the Immprof web page. My comment is this:
I want to like the new ICE PLA because he is like me a member of the two first names club. He is obviously trying to look tough in the picture (being a lead prosecutor and all) but even with the shaved head I can't help thinking that most of the takes of this photo probably had to be discarded because he couldn't keep that straight - faced stern expression.
New ICE Principal Legal Advisor: Peter S. Vincent
I believe that this news has been out there for a while but ICE has announced that Peter S. Vincent is the new principal legal advisor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Vincent graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelor of arts degree in political science and received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
National Immigration Project Report "Playing Politics at the Bench"
You can also find a link to the report at Bender's Immigration Daily...
Here are some of the actual interview questions asked of prospective Immigration Judges during the Bush years...
1. ―Tell us your political philosophy. There are different groups of conservatives by way
of example: Social Conservative, Fiscal Conservative, Law & Order Republican.‖
2. ―What is it about Bush that makes you want to serve him?‖
3. ―Aside from the President, give us an example of someone currently or recently in
public service who you admire?‖
...good stuff no?
It's as funny as that line from the Blues Brothers movie -- Claire: [When asked what music is played at Bob's Country Bunker] Oh we got both kinds. We got Country and Western.
Here are some of the actual interview questions asked of prospective Immigration Judges during the Bush years...
1. ―Tell us your political philosophy. There are different groups of conservatives by way
of example: Social Conservative, Fiscal Conservative, Law & Order Republican.‖
2. ―What is it about Bush that makes you want to serve him?‖
3. ―Aside from the President, give us an example of someone currently or recently in
public service who you admire?‖
...good stuff no?
It's as funny as that line from the Blues Brothers movie -- Claire: [When asked what music is played at Bob's Country Bunker] Oh we got both kinds. We got Country and Western.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Will there be an Immigration Court in New Hampshire?
Well, not anytime soon perhaps. But on an encouraging note -- Senator Shaheen's Office has contacted me and would like to explore my idea for a Northern New England Immigration Court. I think it would be a great thing for the immigrant community here in New Hampshire and in the rest of Northern New England.
Some people may not realize it, but I have checked the numbers by zip code and I believe we have a sufficient number of cases to justify a full-time judge, or possibly two if we draw cases from northern counties of Massachusetts. The court in Boston already has two judges that commute from New Hampshire and at least one government attorney who does so. Immigration & Customs Enforcement has already moved a large part of their operation out of downtown of Boston (to Burlington, MA) and USCIS has recently moved a good portion of their staff north to Lawrence, MA as well.
Anything that cuts the number of vehicles traveling into downtown Boston every morning is a good move in terms of reducing pollution and cutting fuel use and accident rates. I happen to believe that having a federal immigration court in Manchester will be good for business, especially for the airport, the restaurants and the hotels. Quite often a client with a case at the immigration court has family members come in from other parts of the country to help present the case, there are also expert witnesses and even interpreters that travel from other cities to assist in immigration cases.
Clients of mine that come from northern towns in New Hampshire and Maine have to get up in the middle of the night just to be able to make it to the Massachusetts border by the morning -- where they get to then fight rush hour traffic for another hour or two getting into the city. Sometimes for a scheduling hearing that might take all of ten minutes to complete. Having a court in Manchester would not eliminate their trek, but it sure would reduce it and reduce the level of stress for them in an already stressful situation. A number of my Vermont clients actually have had to go to Hartford, Connecticut for court. I have gone there a number of times -- and the drive there in the morning is not much different in hours than Boston. The drive back is a different story, however. I think we could improve on that trip for most Vermonters as well (perhaps with the exception of the Southernmost counties).
If any of our readers support establishing an immigration court in New Hampshire I hope you will contact Senator Shaheen and let her know. While you're at it you can contact Representative Carol Shea Porter who has written a letter of support in the past. I don't know where Senator Gregg and Representative Hodes stand with regard to the proposal -- but I think if they knew it would be good for New Hampshire they would support it. I think it would be good for Maine and Vermont as well. There aren't enough cases to support courts in all three states and therefore Manchester, New Hampshire is the most logical choice because of the central location, the airport, and the proximity to Interstates 89 and 93, Route 3 and Route 101 coming directly from Interstate 95. I thank Senator Shaheen's office for following up and I will keep my fingers crossed.
Some people may not realize it, but I have checked the numbers by zip code and I believe we have a sufficient number of cases to justify a full-time judge, or possibly two if we draw cases from northern counties of Massachusetts. The court in Boston already has two judges that commute from New Hampshire and at least one government attorney who does so. Immigration & Customs Enforcement has already moved a large part of their operation out of downtown of Boston (to Burlington, MA) and USCIS has recently moved a good portion of their staff north to Lawrence, MA as well.
Anything that cuts the number of vehicles traveling into downtown Boston every morning is a good move in terms of reducing pollution and cutting fuel use and accident rates. I happen to believe that having a federal immigration court in Manchester will be good for business, especially for the airport, the restaurants and the hotels. Quite often a client with a case at the immigration court has family members come in from other parts of the country to help present the case, there are also expert witnesses and even interpreters that travel from other cities to assist in immigration cases.
Clients of mine that come from northern towns in New Hampshire and Maine have to get up in the middle of the night just to be able to make it to the Massachusetts border by the morning -- where they get to then fight rush hour traffic for another hour or two getting into the city. Sometimes for a scheduling hearing that might take all of ten minutes to complete. Having a court in Manchester would not eliminate their trek, but it sure would reduce it and reduce the level of stress for them in an already stressful situation. A number of my Vermont clients actually have had to go to Hartford, Connecticut for court. I have gone there a number of times -- and the drive there in the morning is not much different in hours than Boston. The drive back is a different story, however. I think we could improve on that trip for most Vermonters as well (perhaps with the exception of the Southernmost counties).
If any of our readers support establishing an immigration court in New Hampshire I hope you will contact Senator Shaheen and let her know. While you're at it you can contact Representative Carol Shea Porter who has written a letter of support in the past. I don't know where Senator Gregg and Representative Hodes stand with regard to the proposal -- but I think if they knew it would be good for New Hampshire they would support it. I think it would be good for Maine and Vermont as well. There aren't enough cases to support courts in all three states and therefore Manchester, New Hampshire is the most logical choice because of the central location, the airport, and the proximity to Interstates 89 and 93, Route 3 and Route 101 coming directly from Interstate 95. I thank Senator Shaheen's office for following up and I will keep my fingers crossed.
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