Thread: Supreme Court: Immigrants with Poor Legal Counsel Can Turn to Appeals Courts

Supreme Court: Immigrants with Poor Legal Counsel Can Turn to Appeals Courts

By Neil Giardino

What legal recourse do undocumented immigrants have when their lawyers fail them? The Supreme Court is set to decide.

Updated 2 hours ago

Navigating the complexities of U.S. immigration law can be a bewildering experience, especially for those without legal training.

With the threat of deportation often looming, the trust an undocumented immigrant places in his or her attorney is tantamount to the relationship between doctor and sick patient.

But what recourse do immigrants have when they're denied the chance to defend themselves in court because of a mishandled case?

The Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that raised that question, finding that an appeals court has jurisdiction to intervene on deportation.

“An attorney can actually cover up his malpractice, and the client doesn’t have any relief,” attorney Raed Gonzalez, who represented Noel Reyes Mata in his case before the high court, said prior to the decision.

Gonzalez, a partner in Houston immigration law firm Gonzalez Olivieri LLC, said immigrants seeking to reopen their deportation proceedings can often be unaware of their lawyers' legal missteps for months or even years.

"There are a lot of joker attorneys out there,” he said.

Calls to the Justice Department for comment on the case weren't returned.

The backstory: In 2010, Mata, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting his girlfriend, and deportation proceedings were swiftly begun.

He petitioned to halt them through the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), an appeals court within the Justice Department. But his lawyers at the time blundered by not filing the proper appeals documents to the court, Gonzalez said, and Mata's appeal was thrown out.

After he had hired new lawyers, Mata asked that his case be reopened, saying he hadn't been made aware of his former attorney’s clerical error until after the 90-day filing deadline had passed.

The BIA dismissed his appeal, and Mata then asked a federal appeals court to contest the BIA's judgment, saying his lawyer’s failure to file necessary paperwork had denied him of his legal rights. The Fifth Circuit’s response: We can't overturn a BIA ruling.

But Mata's lawyers asked the Supreme Court take the case on, and the justices agreed. They issued their 8-1 decision Monday, holding that a federal appeals court has jurisdiction in such a case and can delay a deadline for an immigrant seeking to reopen a deportation case based on ineffective counsel.

Legal experts said before the decision that a Supreme Court ruling in Mata's favor could bolster due process rights for vulnerable immigrants nationally.

“If a non-citizen establishes that his lawyer messed up and the results could have been different, the case should be reopened,” New York-based immigration attorney Kerry Bretz of Bretz and Coven LLP said before the ruling said in an email.

“The BIA has a habit of applying its opinion (often not favorable to non-citizens) in all the circuit courts that have not addressed a particular issue. That is the case here," Bretz added. "Sadly, the Fifth Circuit failed to do the right thing."

Mata's lawyer Gonzalez said before the ruling that he was optimistic about his client's prospects, and about what the case could mean for other immigrants.

“We are really excited about the case, because it will set a precedent all over the nation to help individuals by giving them a fair chance to reopen their cases in court based on malpractice," he said.

"Due process will prevail."

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/natio...306823831.html

High Court Says Immigration Deadlines Can Be Extended

WASHINGTON — Jun 15, 2015, 11:19 AM ET

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal appeals courts have authority to decide whether people facing deportation should be able to extend the deadlines in immigration proceedings.

In an 8-1 opinion, the justices sided with Noel Reyes Mata, a Mexican citizen who had lived in the United States for nearly 15 years. The government began deportation proceedings after he pleaded guilty to an assault charge.

An immigration judge ordered him deported. Mata appealed, but his lawyer failed to file paperwork within the 90 days required. A new attorney tried to reopen the case, but the Board of Immigration Appeals refused.

Mata appealed to the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, but the court said it had no authority to order a deadline extension.

The Supreme Court said the court did have such authority.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireS...ended-31773473

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

High Court Says Immigration Deadlines Can Be Extended

WASHINGTON — Jun 15, 2015, 11:19 AM ET

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal appeals courts have authority to decide whether people facing deportation should be able to extend the deadlines in immigration proceedings.

In an 8-1 opinion, the justices sided with Noel Reyes Mata, a Mexican citizen who had lived in the United States for nearly 15 years. The government began deportation proceedings after he pleaded guilty to an assault charge.

An immigration judge ordered him deported. Mata appealed, but his lawyer failed to file paperwork within the 90 days required. A new attorney tried to reopen the case, but the Board of Immigration Appeals refused.

Mata appealed to the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, but the court said it had no authority to order a deadline extension.

The Supreme Court said the court did have such authority.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireS...ended-31773473

SHIP THEM ALL,BACK HOME I DONT CARE HOW LONG THYE ARE IN OUR COUNTRY
THEY DID NO COME IN THE RIGHT

"Ohhh, waaaa, waa, that bad American did not see things my way." I'm sorry if I offend, but Robert's court seems to be also trying to give America to Mexico, and it must stop!

If all who lose in immigration court appeal, how may aliens will have long gray beards before it is ruled upon? C'mon, America, get real!! Many good people gave their lives for your naiton, now give back!

Well, like I've said, anyone hanging their hat on the US Supreme Court solving immigration-related issues needs a new bonnet. Historically, the US Supreme Court has had no positive effect in supporting US immigration law, no value-added common sense interpretations of our Constitution, no support for States trying to deal with immigration-related problems, and has always to my knowledge ruled against American Workers in favor of foreign workers in our country legally or here in violation of US law.