ICE trys to reopen immigration cases to continue deportation

Through the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), we have received reports that the Office of Principal Legal Advisor for ICE (OPLA) will begin to reintroduce deportation cases into the court calendar that were administratively closed by the Biden administration to reduce the backlog of cases in the courts.

During Biden's term, many cases involving immigrants who did not have criminal or serious immigration issues were removed from the court calendar and administratively closed, while individuals continued to receive work permits without a court date or pending hearing.

Unfortunately, with the new anti-immigrant policy, the Trump administration will once again begin summoning these individuals to attend their deportation hearings in immigration courts. This means that hundreds of thousands of immigrant cases, especially deportation, cancellation, and asylum cases, may be reopened.

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If you have a case closed with the court, you must be very vigilant

People who are in this situation, meaning they have cases that were administratively closed but not formally finalized, which is another type of consideration, must ensure that their addresses are up to date with the immigration offices, because they may receive new dates to appear in court and if they do not appear on the date indicated, they may receive what is called a deportation order in absentia. It is also important that they contact the court information service and check their alien number constantly to find out if they have been assigned a new court date and do not miss it and end up with a detention and deportation order IN THEIR ABSENCE.

If you have any further questions, please call me or speak with an immigration attorney to find out more about your case.

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Now more than ever, you must beware of scams by fake immigration lawyers or notary public

Especially at this time when people are very fearful of Trump's deportation policy, many immigrants have been scammed by people posing as lawyers. We have even heard of some who go to other states and organize conferences in hotels or carry out scams online.

It is important that before handing over any money, you thoroughly investigate whether the person in question is a registered lawyer and, if necessary, ask to see their license or accreditation as a lawyer and in which state they are registered.

Also, if the lawyer is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), they should have a document certifying them as an experienced immigration lawyer. Even if the person is a licensed lawyer, you can also check how much experience they have in immigration cases, especially in specialized areas such as asylum cases or defense against deportation in immigration courts.

Here in the state of Michigan, people who are only notaries public and not attorneys, which is the majority, are only authorized to verify or attest to the authenticity of signatures on a document. They cannot give advice or advertise themselves as attorneys in any public medium, nor can they charge for filling out immigration documents, even if they are bilingual.

We have seen very negative results in cases where people have been victims of notaries public or other individuals who are only bilingual and have filled out applications with many errors, which can even lead to deportation.

If you are looking for help from a church or nonprofit agency, you should also ask for their credentials because in order to fill out immigration documents, they must be accredited by the BIA (Board of Immigration Appeals). Just because they do not charge or charge very little and are bilingual does not mean that they will always help you and, unfortunately, they may cause you to be deported.

If you have more questions about this topic, you can call my office at 616-235-4577 for more information on where you can obtain information.