Hard Work Pays Off

I still remember my first immigration trial.

I worked hard to cover every angle in advance. At the end of the hearing, the judge threw a curve at me. (I’ve learned, since then, this is not uncommon.)

In the judge’s view, my client could not prove good moral character. He said she was disqualified because she had admitted using false documents in her court testimony.

I disagreed with the judge’s factual portrayal of her statements, as well as with the legal reasoning he used to connect two unrelated rules.

The judge asked if I had any cases to support my opposition. I did not, but this did not mean my position was incorrect.

So I requested additional time to research the issue and provide him with my conclusion.

Knowing I was a newbie, he chuckled snidely, then said, “Sure, counsel, you have 60 days.”

First, I listened to the court tapes. I was right. The client did not say what the judge tried to assert she said. It was a smooth sleight of hand to an untrained ear. It didn’t work on me.

Now I had to turn my attention to the legal aspects.

A few nights later I started my legal research at the local library. (This was during the pre-internet days.) I traced the rules back to 1980 cases, then 1970 cases, then 1960 cases . . . and on and on.

Finally, I found the golden nugget. The case was about 70 years old.

The case was clear. It explained how the immigration judge had combined two unrelated rules in an illogical way. It was not the immigration judge’s fault.

Nearly 70 years before our case, a judge had made the same mistake as the immigration judge in my case. The mistake was never corrected.

After the first mistake, year after year, judges made the same error over and over again.

Until we returned to court.

My client was granted a green card. Today, she is a U.S. citizen, owns a home, and, ironically, works for the government.

The moral to the story?

When it comes to the defense of immigrants, hard work pays off.

By Carlos Batara

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