“Sam” was born in Port Au Prince, Haiti in 1978 and at the age of 9, he was admitted to the U.S. as a Lawful Permanent Resident with his mother and father. However, at the age of 11 Sam’s parents separated and Sam returned to Haiti with his Mother. At the age of 16, Sam’s parents divorced and sole legal custody was granted to Sam’s father, who had since naturalized and became a U.S. Citizen. Sam attempted to move back to the U.S. with his father but at the port of entry, removal proceedings were instituted against Sam as it was alleged that he had “abandoned” his Lawful Permanent Residency. Sam was paroled into the U.S. and lived in Miami, Florida with his father for the duration of the Proceedings.
The bad news for Sam was that he did, in fact, abandon his Permanent Residency by not continually residing in the U.S. and the Department of Homeland Security was correct with respect to that allegation. After his arrest, Sam’s father retained Slepian Law to represent Sam in his immigration-related matters.
Upon a thorough review of Sam’s matter, however, Andrew Slepian, Esq. determined that Sam did not need a “Green Card” because, in fact, he was a U.S. Citizen! Sam had actually acquired automatic derivative U.S. Citizenship from the moment he began to live with his father. The immigration laws in effect at the time dictated that since Sam was a Permanent Resident with one U.S. Citizen parent and one non-citizen parent, as his parents were divorced and he lived in the sole legal custody of his father (the U.S. Citizen parent) before he turned 18, he had became a U.S. Citizen and therefore, the Immigration Court did not have jurisdiction to deport him.
At that point, Mr. Slepian immediately contacted the Department of Homeland Security, who agreed with our argument and immediately agreed to dismiss the proceedings. Sam could have then filed Form N-600 with USCIS to prove that he was a Citizen, but Mr. Slepian simply filed an Application for a U.S. Passport which, when approved within a few weeks later, was prima facie proof of Sam’s U.S. Citizenship!
Removal matters require the quick and careful analysis of an experienced attorney. Call us today for questions, concerns, or further information!
