Our client was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement because of various convictions for burglary and child custody interference in Florida which occurred well over ten years ago. He has since moved on and changed his life. He has a family who depends on him. Unfortunately, ICE can detain people many years after a person believes his debt to society is paid. The scenario is that now the person must deal with months of immigration detention, even though their convictions did not result in incarceration. In our deportation defense of this client, we had his United States citizen wife re-petition for him to obtain a new green card with a waiver of criminal grounds of inadmissibility, often referred to as an I-601 waiver under Section 212(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

In removal proceedings before an Atlanta Immigration Judge, we presented our client’s case showing the positive equities he has accumulated and how they outweigh the adverse factors in the case. We also demonstrated that his deportation would result in extreme hardship to his wife and children. Finally, we showed that our client was deserving of a favorable act of discretion.

After lengthy proceedings, the Immigration Judge granted our client’s application for a green card in conjunction with granted the inadmissibility waiver. Our client was released on the same day and is now home with his family.