Pesikan v. Atty. Gen. "Petitioner Srecko Pesikan argues that the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) erred in concluding that his 2018 Pennsylvania conviction for driving under the...
USCIS, Sept. 25, 2023 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that it is exempting the biometric services fee for Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant...
[What cities? How many?] EOIR, Sept. 25, 2023 Salary: $149,644 - $195,000 per year Travel: 50% or less - You may be expected to travel for this position Application Deadline: Friday, October...
This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 09/25/2023 - "Through this notice, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security...
DOJ, Sept. 21, 2023 "The Justice Department announced today that it has secured a settlement agreement with United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS). The settlement resolves the department’s determination...
Vurimindi v. Atty. Gen.
"We are called on here to decide whether Pennsylvania’s stalking statute, 18 Pa. Stat. and Cons. Stat. § 2709.1(a)(1), constitutes a removable offense under the Immigration and Nationality Act, or, applying the so-called “categorical approach,” whether the elements of the Pennsylvania offense are a categorical match to the elements of the generic “crime of stalking” for which a noncitizen is removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i). Because the Board of Immigration Appeals mistakenly found that Petitioner Vamsidhar Vurimindi failed to raise this issue before the Immigration Judge and denied two motions for relief on that basis, we must also decide whether this question is one we may address in the first instance. We conclude that we can and that because the Pennsylvania stalking offense sweeps more broadly than the federal generic under the categorical approach, it is not a removable offense. Accordingly, we will grant Vurimindi’s consolidated Petitions for Review. ... In sum, the Government has identified no evidence that supports divisibility. The statute, the case law, and the available state court documents all support the opposite conclusion.11 Because Pennsylvania’s stalking statute is indivisible as to intent, we apply the categorical approach. And under the categorical approach, Section 2709.1(a)(1), which sweeps more broadly than its generic counterpart in the INA, is not a categorical match. Vurimindi’s offense of conviction therefore does not qualify as a removable offense. ... For the foregoing reasons, we will grant Vurimindi’s petitions, vacate the BIA’s orders, and remand to the agency for further proceedings consistent with this opinion."
[Hats way off to appointed pro bono counsel Rachel A.H. Horton and Courtney Saleski! Here is a link to the audio recording of the oral argument. NOTE: This PFR was filed in 2019!]