An asylum case is decided on evidence and on credibility, and both are built long before the hearing. We prepare the record, the declaration and the testimony with the same care whether the case is affirmative or defensive.
Asylum is available to people who fear persecution at home on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. The standard is demanding and the evidence has to be built rather than assembled at the last minute. We prepare the declaration, gather country conditions evidence, and get the testimony ready long before a judge hears it.
An affirmative case is decided by USCIS. A defensive case is heard in immigration court, with a government attorney arguing the other side. We handle both, and we tell you at the outset how your case is likely to be received and what would make it stronger.
Removal proceedings are litigation, and they run on the court's schedule rather than yours. We appear at master calendar and individual merits hearings, argue bond, and identify every form of relief the record can support: cancellation of removal, asylum and related protection, adjustment of status in court, waivers, or voluntary departure where that is genuinely the better outcome.
The first question is usually the most important one: what relief is actually available on these facts. We answer it directly, including when the honest answer is that the options are narrow, because a strategy built on a hopeful reading of the record fails at the hearing.
Other areas of practice.
