ellis-island Posted May 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2009 (edited) so is a class action suite from 1000's againt DHS the answer or 1000's of individual suites against both USCIS and DHS , which would catch Hilarys attention more ? which would the press be more interested in ?---- Secretary Clinton is a smart lawyer. She was also a Senator whose staff received a lot of complaints from aggrieved US Citizen petitioners about consulates. I hope those experiences will have a positive effect on how consulates process visa applications under her tenure. I have no idea what the press would be interested in. A colleague of mine suggests bringing bad cases to the attention of the local media where the consulate is located. He's had success doing that. I don't do that. At least I haven't seen a situation that merits it yet. -- Class actions have to involve similarly situated plaintiffs who are too numerous to join. That means the issues of law and facts must be common to all of them. That's certainly true of K-1 petitioners whose petitions have expired, been returned by consulates and who have been waiting years for review by USCIS. Class actions are difficult. But they have the advantage of being cheaper for the individual plaintiff. Most plaintiffs cannot afford to pay for extensive litigation in Federal District Courts. In a class, they can often pay a little or even get a free ride sometimes. Toshiba, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Google can afford to sueand appeal. Most family petitioners cannot. And consular section chiefs are well aware of that too. Class actions have another advantage. They can be filed in a favorable judicial circuit, if that circuit has class-members as plaintiffs. So plaintiffs from Atlanta or Dallas, can actually have a Federal District Judge in California hear their cases. I have a lot of respect for USCIS adudicators and for the Service. I have many fond memories of practicing before USCIS at District offices all over the US. (I even have a few fond memories of practicing before immigration judges in deportation & asylum proceedings-but not nearly as many). With USCIS or Immigration Court (EOIR), you always know you were up against people who were well-trained in the law and who were accountable for their decisions. They are immigration law professionals. They will likely work their entire careers in the field of immigration law, unlike consular officers who often view the visa lines as a career stepping stone into an areathat interests them more. I'd hate to see it come to mass litigation. But I'm just a lawyer. And I think that is what will have to happen to solve the problem of so many meritorious petitions being returned by so many consulates.It might even result in the "good and sufficient cause" standard of USCIS becoming the standard DOS uses for returning petitions. That would make sense, wouldn't it, two agencies working off the same page? In fact, reading Colin Powell's cable above, he implied that it was pointless to return a petition that would not be revoked. I agree. Ironically, I'm arguing against my own financial interest. My clients come to me after their visas are denied. If the denials stopped - I may have to look for a new line of work. But it's the right thing to do. Other lawyers who practice in this areaare doing exactly the same thing, even if it results in lower incomes. Edited May 15, 2009 by ellis-island (see edit history) Link to comment
warpedbored Posted May 15, 2009 Report Share Posted May 15, 2009 Glad you're here Marc. You shed a lot of light on what seems to a lot of us to be murky waters. It has always bothered me that VOs and consulates seem to have no accountability. It seems no other government agency calls them on the carpet for questionable decisions they make. Stamp "not bonafide relationship" on a petition and send it stateside. It seems that the only thing that may change things is a class action lawsuit with lots of publicity. Link to comment
tsap seui Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 (edited) Hi Marc. It is so good to see you posting on Candle for Love. tsap seui Edited June 16, 2009 by tsap seui (see edit history) Link to comment
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