I am certain that the irony of this posting, coming immediately after my previous one, will not be lost on some of my readers. However, the matter of which I am now posting should serve as a reminder that USCIS is gracious enough to sometimes recognize that an alien who appeared to have committed marriage fraud in the first instance, might not in fact have done so.
In this particular case, the alien had been accused of marriage and visa fraud and a denial of an I-360 "Widow" petition and associated adjustment application recommended by USCIS for a number of reasons which when combined, seemed to USCIS to suggest such fraud. The applicant had tried without legal representation to rebut those allegations and failed, receiving a May 2, 2014 denial of the I-360/adjustment.
We were retained on May 21, 2014 to pursue appeals of various aspects of the case, and filed our notice of appeal on May 30, 2014. We had determined that in all of USCIS's discussion of its reasons for alleging fraud, the agency had not discussed a critical piece of evidence which we believed exonerated our client on both the visa and marriage fraud charges. With our notice of appeal we filed an attachment bringing the piece of evidence to the agency's attention and citing case law which discussed the importance of this particular sort of evidence in such cases.
On June 16, 2014, USCIS issued a notice informing us that our Notice of Appeal was treated as a "Motion to Reopen," and that the I-360 petition had been approved.
On June 20, 2014, the applicant's Resident Alien Card (green card) was shipped to the applicant from USCIS.
As of today's date the Applicant is in possession of the resident alien card and is now a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States on a pathway to US Citizenship.
This is among the fastest reversals our office has ever seen in an immigration appeal and is a testament to the efficiency and competency of the USCIS's adjudicators handling the matter.
We are grateful to USCIS and I will express special thanks to my partner, attorney, Peter Chow, who worked with me on this case.
By: Duane M. Hamilton
Friday, June 27, 2014
Thursday, June 19, 2014
A REMINDER RE THE HARSH CONSEQUENCES OF KENYAN IMMIGRATION MARRIAGE FRAUD
The following report which can be found at:
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/spring/news/four-kenyan-nationals-sentenced-in-marriage-fraud-conspiracy/article_a53f96c2-c64d-11e3-a42d-0019bb2963f4.html?mode=story is an important reminder of why arranged marriages for the purpose of acquiring immigration benefits is such an incredibly bad idea. It is a mystery as to why such fraud operators are so convinced that the Government cannot or will not figure out their schemes.
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/spring/news/four-kenyan-nationals-sentenced-in-marriage-fraud-conspiracy/article_a53f96c2-c64d-11e3-a42d-0019bb2963f4.html?mode=story is an important reminder of why arranged marriages for the purpose of acquiring immigration benefits is such an incredibly bad idea. It is a mystery as to why such fraud operators are so convinced that the Government cannot or will not figure out their schemes.
Four Kenyan nationals sentenced in marriage fraud conspiracy
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Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 3:44 am | Updated: 11:31 am, Thu Apr 17, 2014.
Four Kenyan nationals residing in Houston have beensentenced for conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, marriage fraud and visa fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Herman Ogoti, 53, Alfonso Ongaga, 36, Andrew Mokoro, 36, and Rebmann Ongaga, 33, were all convicted following a seven-day trial on Nov. 14, 2013. Ogoti and Alfonso Ongaga were also convicted of unlawful procurement of naturalization.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon sentenced Alfonso Ongaga and Andrew Mokoro to terms of 16 months in federal prison, while Ogoti and Rebmann Ongaga each received six-month terms. Judge Harmon also signed an order revoking the naturalization of Ogoti and Alfonso Ongaga, thereby stripping them of their fraudulently acquired U.S. citizenship.
A fifth defendant charged in the case, Andrew Mitema, 35, of Houston, pleaded guilty in advance of trial to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and tampering with a witness. He is set for sentencing on April 23, 2014.
The defendants conspired together to recruit and pay U.S citizens to enter into fraudulent marriages for the purpose of receiving lawful permanent resident status or citizenship. Before entering the U.S., each of the defendants applied for student visas. All but Rebmann Ongaga were granted those visas and used them to enter the country.
After his student visa was denied, Rebmann Ongaga, working with his other co-conspirators, flew a recruited U.S. citizen to Kenya for the sole purpose of conducting a sham wedding ceremony. After two days in Kenya, the woman returned to the United States. Several months later, Rebmann Ongaga entered the U.S. with a spouse visa.
After entering the country, the remaining defendants married recruited American citizens, most of whom were related to each other and to the citizen who traveled to Kenya. Each recruited woman was to be paid $5,000 for her participation in the sham marriages.
The scheme was uncovered Nov. 10, 2009, after two additional recruited women were detained at the U.S.Passport Office in Houston, suspected of committing passport fraud. They had told officials that they weretraveling to Africa “to see the animals,” although they did not know where.
Upon further questioning, they admitted they were both recruited to travel to Africa to marry the recruiters’ family members. At trial, surveillance video showed the two women entering into the passport office with a male, later identified as Mokoro.
The case was investigated by the Department of State – Diplomatic Security Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Enforcement and Removal Operations and Department of Homeland Security - Fraud Detection and National Security.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kebharu H. Smith and Suzanne Elmilady and Department of Justice Trial AttorneyAshlee McFarlane prosecuted the case.
Friday, June 6, 2014
BIA ORDERS REOPENING IN THE CASE OF A KENYAN ORDERED DEPORTED OVER 12 YEARS AGO
On May 30, 2014, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), upon consideration of an extensive Motion to Reopen (MTR) filed by me in February of this year, ordered that the case of a Kenyan, whose voluntary departure order had converted to an order of "removal" (more commonly known as "deportation") over 12 years ago, be reopened and remanded to the Immigration Judge for "further proceedings."
In this case, we were able to show, under 9th Circuit authority, that sufficient "changed circumstances" had taken place in Kenya to warrant reopening and remand. Demonstrating "changed circumstances," in the context of MTRs is not necessarily intuitive, and involves consideration and application of a number of intersecting law, regulations, policy and concepts. Further, the BIA's treatment of such motions sometimes varies depending upon its interpretation of the Circuit Court of Appeals law under which the case was initially tried.
We continue at this time to pursue a separate petition for review before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of this Kenyan on issues pertaining to the underlying case filed in the late 90s in which he was represented by another attorney. Sometimes attorneys work on multiple tracks simultaneously, on behalf of alien clients.
We are deeply gratified for the May 30 BIA decision, since our client will now be given a further opportunity to demonstrate at trial, why permanent or indefinite immigration benefits should be approved.
By: Duane M. Hamilton
In this case, we were able to show, under 9th Circuit authority, that sufficient "changed circumstances" had taken place in Kenya to warrant reopening and remand. Demonstrating "changed circumstances," in the context of MTRs is not necessarily intuitive, and involves consideration and application of a number of intersecting law, regulations, policy and concepts. Further, the BIA's treatment of such motions sometimes varies depending upon its interpretation of the Circuit Court of Appeals law under which the case was initially tried.
We continue at this time to pursue a separate petition for review before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of this Kenyan on issues pertaining to the underlying case filed in the late 90s in which he was represented by another attorney. Sometimes attorneys work on multiple tracks simultaneously, on behalf of alien clients.
We are deeply gratified for the May 30 BIA decision, since our client will now be given a further opportunity to demonstrate at trial, why permanent or indefinite immigration benefits should be approved.
By: Duane M. Hamilton
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