In April 2015, the government decided that my client got her green card through fraud and they were going to do something about that.
So they initiated proceudres in the immigration court in Arlington VA go take away her green card. In those proceedings, the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the green card was fraudulently obtained.
In an effort to satisfy this burden, the government submitted what it called an “interview report.” This document purports to be a transcript of an interview between my client and some DHS investigators.
This document recounts a conversation that occurred in April 2014. The document does not have the name of the DHS official who wrote it. It does not say when it was written. It does not even say that it is verbatim. It does not say that the client agrees that it is accurate.
It is worthless as evidence. That is the entirety of the DHS case against my client. In November 2017, we attended a preliminary hearing on the case. I told the judge that the government could not meet the burden of proof with that document.
I stated that I want to cross examine whoever wrote it and that it was not sufficient evidence to yank someone’s green card. The judge signaled some agreement and ordered the government to produce any additional evidence by April 2019 and ordered a hearing on November 5, 2019.
April came and went and the government filed nothing. So last month, I filed a written motion to terminate proceedings against my client citing all the deficiencies with the government evidence.
Today, I Met with my client to prepare her for her 11/5 hearing. No shit, as I was meeting with her, the court called to say that the hearing was cancelled and I would get a new hearing date.
The government, with its weak-ass case, has held my client’s life up for over four years. Now the mess that is the court system, with 1 million cases pending, is likely to delay it at least another year.
My client has a green card. This is an effort to take it away. She is entitled to more procedural rights, faster adjudication and overall better treatment from this government.
She has pursued her case with diligence and zeal and is stuck in limbo based upon a garbage document and the chaos of the court system that cares nothing about the lives of people stuck in it.
This is no way to run a country.
