I. Analyzing Your Case

II. Overview of Relief

III. 212(c) and LPR Cancellation of Removal

I. Fraud Issues

II. Issues for Arriving Noncitizens

III. 212(c) and LPR Cancellation of Removal

IV. Post conviction relief

V. Advanced Evidence

VI. Motions to Reopen

VII. Ethics in Immigration Law

FACULTY

ALBERT ARMENDARIZ, JR. is a graduate of Cathedral High School, the University of Texas at El Paso, and the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.  Mr. Armendariz is an experienced civil rights and immigration attorney.  He was counsel on Murillo, et al. v. Musegades, et al. (The “Bowie High School case”).  In 1992, the Bowie High School case was recognized by the National Immigration Project and the American Civil Liberties Union as the top civil rights case dealing with immigration issues in the U.S.  Since 1970, Mr. Armendariz has maintained a private law practice in El Paso, Texas, and is a partner in the law firm of Dunbar, Armendariz & Hegeman, LLP.  He is a past president of the Mexican-American Bar Association of El Paso and the El Paso Association of Immigration Practitioners.  He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the El Paso Bar Association, the Mexican-American Bar Association of El Paso, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.  Mr. Armendariz has spoken at the local, state, and national level and written on a variety of immigration law subjects. Mr. Armendariz is active in civic and community affairs, having served on the board of directors of the El Paso Legal Assistance Society and as chairperson of the Board of Education of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso and El Paso Concilio de El Paso.  He is a former chairperson and current member of the board of directors of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of Texas, Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project.  Mr. Armendariz has been married for 37 years to the former Virginia Concha, and they have three children and three grandchildren.

AHILAN ARULANANTHAM is a staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California where he specializes in immigration and terrorism-related litigation. Previously, he worked for the Federal Public Defender in El Paso and before that for the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project in New York.

LISA BRODYAGA is staff attorney for Refugio del Rio Grande in San Benito, Texas, and a long-time practitioner and litigant for immigrants’ rights. She is a member of the National Immigration Project.

BARBARA HINES is a clinical professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law and directs the immigration clinic. She was Fulbright Scholar in Argentina in 1996 and 2004 where she worked on immigration and human rights issues. She was the first co‑director of the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of Texas Immigration and Refugee Rights Project, San Antonio. Ms. Hines received the 1992 American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for Excellence in Litigation and the 1993 American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Texas Chapter Litigation Award. In 2000, Ms. Hines was selected as one of the 101 best lawyers in the state by the Texas Lawyers Publication. In 2002 she received the Excellence in Public Interest Award for the Public Interest Law Student Association at the University of Texas Law School. Ms. Hines has litigated many cases involving the rights of immigrants and is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Immigration and Nationality Law. She is a past chair and current member of the board of directors of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

MARY KENNEY is a senior staff attorney with the Legal Action Center of the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF). AILF's LAC conducts impact litigation, mentors and assists immigration attorneys with their federal court cases, and prepares amicus briefs in significant cases in federal courts and before the BIA. Ms. Kenney has litigated cases at the Board of Immigration Appeals and in various federal courts around the country. Prior to joining AILF, she spent seven years as the executive director for the Texas Lawyers' Committee, a statewide immigrant and refugee rights project. She is a member of the National Immigration Project.

DAN KESSELBRENNER is the executive director of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and the co-author of Immigration Law and Crimes. He received the American Immigration Lawyers Association's Jack Wasserman Award and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild's Carol King Award for his work as part of the legal team in American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh in 1991. He received the Carol King Award again in 2000. He is a member of the National Lawyers Guild and a member of the board of directors of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
 

JOE REINA practices immigration law exclusively, concentrating primarily on deportation cases, family-based immigration, and U.S. citizenship claims. He is board certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and serves on the Board's immigration and nationality law examination committee. His peers have ranked him among Texas’s top five immigration lawyers in a survey conducted and published by The Texas Lawyer. Joe is also listed in "Best Lawyers in America," and appears among Texas Monthly's "Super Lawyers." He has successfully litigated numerous cases on behalf of aliens resisting deportation, including the precedent decision, Deanda-Romo, issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals in May, 2003. He has been recognized for his efforts on behalf of detained aliens in his role as mentor to the detention project conducted by Catholic Charities of Dallas. As a member of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas for over 10 years, Joe has made extraordinary contributions of legal services to the poor. His consistent participation in extensive continuing legal education has earned him membership in the College of the State Bar of Texas. Currently, Joe serves as chair of the Texas, Oklahoma, & New Mexico Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association ("AILA"). He has been a member of the National Liaison Committee of AILA to the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the U.S. Department of Justice. He is officially engaged as counsel to the Consulate of Mexico in matters involving U.S. immigration law. Joe is also a member of the National Immigration Project. Joe has served as adjunct professor of immigration law at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas. He has authored numerous articles on U. S. immigration law, including "Hyperequities": 212(c) and Cancellation of Removal After Matter of Jean, 7 Bender's Immigration Bulletin 1549 (December 15, 2002). He frequently speaks at immigration-law conferences. Licensed in Texas, as well as in Washington, D.C., Joe has practiced law for over 17 years. He is admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Federal Circuit, and the Fifth Circuit. He is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Texas and for the District of Columbia. Joe is a 1984 graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and a 1987 graduate of the University of Houston Law School. He was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and is fluent in French, Italian, and Spanish.

LORY DIANA ROSENBERG is Of Counsel to Paparelli & Partners, LLP, handling complex immigration litigation, enforcement, asylum, consequences of crime and review of removal orders. She is a featured columnist for Bender's Immigration Bulletin and the founder of IDEA Immigration Defense & Expert Assistance© consultation for lawyers, judges and advocates. Ms. Rosenberg was an appellate immigration judge on the United States Board of Immigration Appeals from 1995-2002. She is co-author of Immigration Law and Crimes, the Legalization Handbook, author of the Fair Hearings Pleadings Manual (AILF), and writer of numerous journal articles, advisories, and training guides on immigration law and defense. Ms. Rosenberg was the prior director of the Defending Immigrants Partnership at the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (2002-2004) and taught immigration policy, refugee law, and removal defense as an adjunct professor at American University, Washington College of Law (1997-2004). She previously directed the AILF Legal Action Center (1991-1995), and represented individual clients before the INS, DOJ, and federal courts from 1977-1991 in Massachusetts, where she co-founded the original Central American asylum/pro bono program at Centro Presente. She has provided amicus assistance and expert testimony in various immigration matters before the courts, and has a wealth of experience in mentoring other attorneys handling complex immigration cases. Ms. Rosenberg presently is an elected director on the American Immigration Lawyers Association Board of Governors, where she previously served from 1988-91. She was a founding board member of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, Inc. Ms. Rosenberg has a bachelor of fine arts degree in television and film production from New York University, and received her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law. Her work is guided by a strong belief in due process and the rule of law.

MONY RUIZ VELASCO is the director of Legal Services for Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC). In that capacity, Mony oversees the delivery of legal services for NIJC and directly supervises the immigrant legal defense, citizenship, and gender-based protection projects. Mony worked with NIJC in 2000-2002 managing the asylum and detained children’s programs, and afterward was in private immigration law defense practice in Dallas, Texas. Previously, Mony was an attorney advisor under the Attorney General's Honors Program at the Executive Office for Immigration Review in San Antonio and Harlingen, Texas. Mony is a 1999 graduate of St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas and is licensed in Texas.
 

MICHELLE SAENZ-RODRIGUEZ is the co-founder of Saenz-Rodriguez & Associates in Dallas, Texas.  Now in her 15^th year of practice, Michelle was a judicial law clerk under the Attorney General’s Honor program for seven immigration judges in Harlingen, Texas. She practices immigration law with an emphasis on deportation litigation.  Michelle and her husband George established their own practice in 1995 and represent immigrants from all over the world. Michelle was selected as a “Texas Super Lawyer” for 2003, 2004, 2006. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), where she serves as the Dallas DHS Liaison and a National Mentor, as well as a member of the National Immigration Project. Ms. Saenz-Rodriguez has been named “Best Lawyers in America” in 2005 and 2006.  She is a frequent speaker at attorney seminars on immigration issues.  She served as co-chair for 2003 University of Texas Law School Immigration Conference. Ms. Saenz-Rodriguez volunteers much of her time to mentor young or newly admitted lawyers and is active in her community.

ILYCE SHUGALL is an associate attorney with the firm Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale in San Francisco, where she specializes in deportation defense cases. Prior to joining the firm in October 2001, she worked as a National Association for Public Interest Law Fellow at ProBAR in Harlingen, Texas. Ms. Shugall is a member of the National Immigration Project.

LEE TERAN is clinical professor of law at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, where she directs the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic, and a member of the National Immigration Project. She is a 1975 graduate of the University of Colorado School of Law. She has been licensed to practice law in Texas since May 1976, and has been board certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1984. Formerly a co-director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Lee has received awards from the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Lawyers Guild, and St. Mary’s University Alumni Association.

Stacy Tolchin is an associate at attorney Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale in San Francisco. She primarily researches and writes briefs before the Executive Office of Immigration Review and federal courts. She is a member of the National Immigration Project, AILA, and is a board member of the National Lawyers Guild for the San Francisco Bay Area and the International Institute of San Francisco.

NORTON TOOBY of Oakland, California, is a National Immigration Project member and an attorney specializing in immigration consequences of crimes and post-conviction relief for immigrants. He maintains www.CriminalAndImmigrationLaw.com and publishes practice manuals for immigration and criminal lawyers such as Criminal Defense of Immigrants (3d ed. 2003), Crimes of Moral Turpitude (2d ed. 2005), Aggravated Felonies (3d ed. 2006), and Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants (2004).
 

Cecillia Wang is senior staff counsel with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project and a member of the National Immigration Project. Her practice includes issues at the intersection of criminal law and immigration. From 1998 to 2002, Cecillia was a staff attorney with the Federal Defender Division of the Legal Aid Society in New York. She has also worked at the San Francisco law firm of Keker & Van Nest, where her practice focused on white collar criminal defense. She has served on the Criminal Justice Act indigent defense panel for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Cecillia is a 1995 graduate of Yale Law School and a former law clerk to Judge William Norris of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and to Justice Harry Blackmun of the Supreme Court of the United States.

JACQUELINE WATSON is a proud El Paso native and undergraduate alum of the University of Texas at El Paso. She is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and has practiced immigration law since 1999. From 1999 to 2003, Jacqueline was an attorney with the Political Asylum Project of Austin (PAPA). In 2003, she joined Texas Lawyers Care, a department of the State Bar of Texas, where she provided support services to pro bono attorneys and legal aid programs. Jacqueline returned to the full-time practice of immigration law in April 2004, when she joined Hines & Leigh, P.C. in Austin. Jacqueline has been a frequent speaker on immigration law topics and has authored articles for the Texas Bar Journal, LegalFront, and the Texas Council on Family Violence. She is a member of the National Immigration Project.

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