The High-Stakes Reality of Border Litigation The room smelled like ozone and mint. I sat across from a client who had already lost, though he did not know it yet. I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a deposition because they ignored one simple rule about silence. He…
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I smell the strong black coffee from the hallway before I even enter the conference room. My client is sitting there, hands shaking, clutching a stack of papers that he thinks will save his life. He is wrong. I tell him his case is failing before I even sit down. He looks at me with…
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I smell the stale, over-roasted scent of black coffee in a paper cup as I sit across from a man who just signed away his life. He thought he was being smart. He thought he was taking the easy way out. I watched a client lose their entire claim to legal residency in the first…
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The First Move Your Abogado de Inmigración Makes After a Notice to Appear The room smells like strong black coffee and old paper. You are sitting across from me because you received a Notice to Appear. You think you need to tell your story. You are wrong. You need to stop talking and let the…
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I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a deposition because they ignored one simple rule about silence. We were sitting in a cramped, fluorescent-lit office that smelled of industrial cleaner and desperation. The asylum officer asked a leading question. My client, instead of providing the one-word answer we…
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I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a hearing because they ignored one simple rule about silence. They sat at the counsel table, smelling the stale air of the federal building, and decided to offer an unprompted explanation about a document the judge had not even looked at…
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The myth of the mandatory exit I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a deposition because they ignored one simple rule about silence. They felt the need to fill the void. They started explaining their arrest for a 2018 bar fight. By the time they stopped talking, they…
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I smell the stale black coffee from the court cafeteria and I see a respondent who thinks their good character is enough. It isn’t. I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a witness statement because they ignored one simple rule about silence. They tried to fill the void…
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The office smells of bitter black coffee and the weight of folders containing lives about to be dismantled. I do not offer comfort. I offer a defense. When the government accuses you of fraud, they are not looking for the truth; they are looking for a confession. I watched a client lose their entire claim…
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I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a deposition because they ignored one simple rule about silence. That same principle applies when the glass doors of your lobby open and three agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement stand there with badges and clipboards. The air in the room…
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