Lopez’s Success Story
Mr. Lopez was one of thousand individuals with a complicated past he wished to forget. As a young Mexican, his dream was for a better life in the United States of America. Regretfully he was arrested and convicted for a crime that he should have been found innocent. Mr. Lopez like many others did not have adequate funds to have decent attorney representation.

Years later, Mr. Lopez was seeking his green card through the cancellation program. The Immigration Judge correctly denied Mr. Lopez’s case due to his past conviction. Mr. Lopez hired our Firm for assistance. Our first aim was to reverse the guilty conviction, and this was done in a trial where Mr. Lopez was found innocent! Next we aimed for the reopening of his immigration case, and we accomplished this which was great news for Mr. Lopez. Finally justice was served! Next, let’s get Mr. Lopez’s green card.

Maria’s Story
Maria was ordered deported. For years Maria was living in the U.S. with her 3 U.S. citizen children in fear that any day she could be caught by Immigration Officers and deported. What would come of her 3 U.S. kids who had never been to El Salvador? Fearful of the civil unrest in El Salvador, gang violence and kidnappings, Maria approached our Firm looking for hope.

After careful review of her file the decision was made to seek a joint motion from the government. That request was shut down when government refused to join. Next was the difficult task of convincing the Immigration Judge to reopen the case so that Maria could seek green card through NACARA program.

We are happy to share this wonderful news. The Immigration Judge agreed with our request and has reopened Maria&rsquos case. Next step green card for Maria.

Anahita Finally Gets Her Green Card
Anahita came to America from Iran. She applied for asylum on her own because her family told her she does not need a lawyer. Her asylum was denied and she was referred to Immigration Court for deportation. Our office was retained. The Judge was inclined to deny her case but our office and the government stipulated to a grant of withholding in lieu of asylum. Anahita’s mom eventually became a U.S. citizen and again decided to file their paperwork on their own. U.S. citizen mom petitioned for Anahita. The application was rejected. Once again Anahita came to our office and we filed her paperwork. The Immigration office denied her case, offering us the option to file a motion to reconsider if we believe they are wrong in their decision. The filing fee alone was over $500. We approached immigration immediately and after confronting the officers with their obvious mistake, immigration accepted their mistake and granted Anahita her green card.

Hector Gets His Life Back
3/28/11: Hector is detained in Lancaster detention. He is from Mexico. He is single. Hector is father to 4 kids. Kids are U.S. citizens. One of them Brian has cancer and served in U.S. Military. Hector was convicted in 2010 in San Bernardino for 11352(a) sales of drug. He was sentenced to 270 days jail time. Hector has been a green card holder since 1989. Hector’s family tried to get him lawyers so he could be represented before Immigration Court. Immigration was seeking Hector’s deportation based on his most recent conviction. Our staff visited Hector in detention. At one point during the proceedings the Immigration Judge indicated that that it would be difficult for Hector to prove his case.

9/29/11: Briefs were submitted on Hector’s behalf. The government reviewed our position and agreed to terminate proceedings against Hector.

10/10/11: We saw Hector in our office. He was released. He gave me a hug and cried. Hector can be a father to his kids. Hopefully he will keep better decisions when it comes to people around him.

Yes For TPS
Paulina had applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and she had been denied and wished for us to appeal her denial. Paulina is from El Salvador and like most people from El Salvador she is grateful to the United States for the privilege of TPS bestowed on her and her people during their stay in the United States. Paulina came in 1990. Paulina was deported 1998. Paulina is single and mother to 3 kids.

In the meantime Paulina was picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is in downtown detention.

We desperately were trying to get hold of an officer in charge of her case. We managed to convince ICE to release Paulina on bond. We then managed to reopen her deportation case. The goal is to seek out a relief for Paulina immediately.

We just opened the mail and Paulina’s TPS is approved. That means we can close her case for now. This will give us time to get Paulina an immigration relief.

The Story Of Young Melvin
Young Melvin was only 16 years old when he first came to the United States. Born in Guatemala, Melvin lived with his grandparents.

As a minor who is unaccompanied at the time of arrival into the United States we attempted and was granted special immigrant juvenile status, on behalf of Melvin. This was a minor victory. Next we will try to get Melvin his green card. As a precautionary measure we also filed an asylum application on behalf of Melvin as an unaccompanied minor.

Here is the gist of the questions asked and answered by Melvin at the Asylum interview:

Why leave Guatemala? Being threatened by gang members. No one to protect me.

Where are your parents? I think they are in Guatemala.

Any parent in USA? Mother is in Guatemala, don’t know where father is, last contact with him was when I was 5 yrs old.

Do you fear return to Guatemala? Yes, scared they will take my life away. No one is there to protect me. Gang members will hurt me and I don’t have a home to go back to. They threatened to kill me and my grandparents they have no way to protect themselves.

Why do you not have a home if you return? Grandparents (grandfather is sick) don’t have money for medications, and can no longer care for me. I will not be able to go back there.

Why do you not have a home if you return? Grandparents(grandfather is sick) don’t have money for medications, and can no longer care for me. I will not be able to go back there.

Melvin’s Troubles With His Mother

After father left, mother was sad. She mistreated us and hit us. She sometimes would not feed us.

When was the first time she hurt you? She hit me all the time. Once when we went to a family members house and coming home. I had keys in my pocket and did not take them out fast enough, and she slapped me on the face with them and my nose was bleeding.

10/1/11: you can only imagine my delight when I opened the envelope to read that Melvin’s asylum application had been approved. In about a year from now he can apply and get his green card.

Glenda Gets Her Wish
Glenda is from Honduras. She came to the United States in 1993. Single with five children. Glenda had one major issue. In 2008 she was convicted of 6 counts of knowingly receiving stolen property, a felony.

The story behind the criminal case was so compelling to me together with my feelings for her kids that I decided to take this case head on. We began the process of post conviction relief to seek a reversal of her conviction.

Since Glenda was in deportation proceedings we had to act quick. We asked for a brief continuance from the Immigration Judge who was gracious enough to grant our request. We then appeared on the Motion to Vacate hearing in Inglewood Superior Court. Judge granted our motion.

10/21/11: Glenda’s green card was approved by Immigration Judge. Her kids will have a mom to watch over them.

Julia’s Time
Julia is from El Salvador. She was placed in deportation proceedings. She asked and was granted the opportunity to leave the United States voluntarily and yet failed to leave. Since Julia has not complied with her voluntary departure she now has a warrant for her deportation.

She failed to leave because she fell in love and married Andres who is luckily a United States Citizen. Julia is now mother to 2 U.S. citizen kids. Andres files an immediate relative petition (i-130) right before the 245i sunset in 2001. Julia regretfully retains the services of a notario (not an attorney) who files an application for her adjustment so that she can get her green card. Immigration denies Julia’s application and the filing fees paid is lost. Julia’s apprehension is now imminent since Immigration now knows of her whereabouts.

Our office files a joint motion with Department of Homeland Security.

I love it when I get emails like the following from Immigration:

Re: Request for a Joint Motion to Reopen – A072 xxx xxx Julia xxx

Dear Mr. Ghashghaei:

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reviewed your case in detail and has consented to join in your motion to reopen request. The original joint motion is attached. Please execute the joint motion and return the original to our office for ICE signature and filing. Also please enclose the applicable notice of representation form for the Court or the Board of Immigration Appeals and the respondent’s current address on a completed EOIR 33 form. Please do not file any additional documents regarding this joint motion with the Court or the Board of Immigration Appeals unless requested by the Court or the Board of Immigration Appeals, and then only after obtaining additional agreement from ICE. Any such filing may result in ICE withdrawing its consent to the joint motion. Sincerely, Assistant Chief Counsel Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement 606 S. Olive St., 8th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90014

11/7/11: I received Julia’s green card approval.