Immigration Law

USCIS BACKS DOWN IN AHMAD CASE

By Greg Siskind

Michael Maggio, the pre-eminent immigration who recently passed away, would really be proud of the work done by his firm's lawyer Thomas Ragland. And congratulations are also due to Washington Post reporter Karen DeYoung who reported on the outrageous decision in the case of Sam Ahmad and publicly shamed USCIS. USCIS not only backed down on the denial of Sam Ahmad's case, but they announced a much broader shift in policy. Here's what the Post had to say:

The U.S. immigration service said yesterday that it will temporarily stop denying green cards to refugees and other legal immigrants tied to groups that sought to topple foreign dictatorships, placing their cases on hold while it determines more "logical, common-sense" rules for judging them.

The decision will potentially affect thousands of pending applications for permanent U.S. residence. The cases of hundreds of others who have been denied green cards since December will also be reexamined, said Jonathan "Jock" Scharfen, deputy director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. All the applicants are living in this country under refugee or other visa provisions or political asylum.

Nice to see USCIS finally start to show that they can quickly address a pressing problem rather than have to be hauled in front of a congressional committee or sued.

Full post as published by Greg Siskind's Blog on March 27, 2008 (boomark / email).