M, a lawful permanent resident ( also known as a “green card holder” ) from Fiji who has resided with his family in the United States for the past 21 years, received assistance from the clinic. As a young adult, M had a few small encounters with the criminal justice system, and DHS claimed that the government had deport her based on her conviction in 1999. After the office filed a brief on his behalf to the immigration court, the clinic claimed that under Ninth Circuit case law, M’s 1999 conviction may not prevent his deportation.
Melinda Koster ( 11 ), Shira Levine ( 11 ), and Shira Levine ( 11 ), filed a motion to dismiss the deportation proceedings against M, alleging that DHS lacked the necessary documentation to meet its federal immigration laws. Melinda and Shira argued in a legal short to the immigration judge that M’s 1999 judgment was never, under Ninth Circuit case law, prevent him from being deported. The Immigration Judge backed Melinda and Shira’s argument and decided that the government could not deport M. This victory was a result of the work of Orion Danjuma ( 10 ) and Jenny Kim ( 11 ), who had previously successfully defeated DHS’s initial claim that M. A. had been removed as an “aggravated felon,” a classification that would have led to almost certain deportation to Fiji.
