Update: Randall’s Trip to Washington D.C.

Randall will be in Washington D.C. in March 25-26, 2010 to meet with several congressional offices about potential significant changes to current U.S. immigration laws and policies.

Update on Supreme Court Hearing on 6th Amendment

If an attorney poorly advises a non-US citizen client to enter a guilty plea without informing the client of deportation consequences if found guilty, then is the attorney’s advise rendered ineffective and consequently can the client rescind the guilty plea under the 6th Amendment?

On October 13, 2009, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the Padilla vs. Kentucky case revolved around that question. Mr. Padilla, a legal permanent resident of the United States, was found guilty of marijuana trafficking. In regards to his plea, Padilla asked his attorney whether or not a guilty plea would induce deportation. Padilla’s attorney responded that deportation was not an issue because he had lived in the US for forty years. A guilty plea for a non-US citizen, however, does trigger deportation. The Kentucky Supreme Court, however, found Padilla’s reason to withdraw his guilty plea on the basis of his attorney’s poor advice invalid as it was a “collateral consequence.”

Stephen Kinnaird, Padilla’s current attorney, argued before the Supreme Court that Padilla’s guilty plea could be rescinded because his attorney was ineffective under the Strickland standard, a two-part test of whether or not an attorney is effective in the context of the 6th Amendment.

For further news and opinions on the Padilla vs. Kentucky case, click on the following links.

American Immigration Council

Crime and Banishment

Caudle Quoted in recent California Lawyer Magazine

Attorney Randall Caudle was quoted in a recent article, “Recession Cuts into H-1B Visa Work,” in the November 2009 issue of California Lawyer Magazine.

22nd Annual AILA Conference–California Chapters

On November 12-14, attorneys Randall Caudle, Jennifer Lee, and Katia Vais attended the 22nd Annual American Immigration Lawyer Association (AILA) California Conference in Marina Del Rey.

At the recent AILA California Conference, Randall spoke to other immigration attorneys about I-751 petitions to remove conditional residence. Topics included “Timing of I-751 Filing,” “Dependents–When are they included?”, and, “I-751s in Immigration Court Removal Proceedings.”

Randall’s Trip to Washington D.C.

Randall was in Washington, D.C. from Thursday March 19-Sunday March 22 meeting with several congressional offices about immigration issues and attending the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) National Board of Governors and Chapter Chairs meetings.  Randall was the President of the AILA Santa Clara Valley Chapter in May 2008- May 2009.

Update: U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear 6th Amendment Case

Randall was a signatory to the amicus brief for the case, which the Supreme Court recently agreed to hear.  Read post below to find out more about the case.

Randall Signs on to Amicus Brief Concerning 6th Amendment Rights

Randall is one of the immigration law professors that signed on to the Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) brief for the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to get the U.S. Supreme Court to accept a case involving an immigrant’s right to effective counsel under the 6th amendment of the Constitution. Click the link (below) to view the brief.

AMICUS BRIEF

The questions presented are:

1) Does the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of effective assistance of counsel require a criminal defense attorney to advise a client who is not a citizen that pleading guilty to an aggravated felony will trigger mandatory, automatic deportation?

2) If a criminal defense attorney misadvises his noncitizen client that a guilty plea will not lead to deportation, and that misadvice induces a guilty plea, can that misadvice amount to ineffective assistance of counsel and warrant setting aside the guilty plea?

Greetings from Caudle Immigration

The Law Office of Randall Caudle / Caudle Immigration is a full service immigration law firm. We would like to help you with your immigration issues and questions involving family immigration, individual immigration, business immigration, musicians, athletes, scientists, professors, employer immigration compliance issues, audit and raid prevention and defense, deportation and removal defense, waivers, marriage to a U.S. Citizen green cards,Fiance(e) visas, H-1B visas, L company transferee visas, Trade NAFTA (TN) visas, political asylum, naturalization to U.S. Citizen, and global outbound immigration to the other approximately 200 countries in the world.Please feel free to call us at 415-541-9290 for a free phone consultation. We look forward to talking to you and answering your questions.

We will treat you at all times with respect, dignity, and friendliness.

We believe in superior customer service and client access (we return phone calls and e-mails promptly).

We will be honest, diligent and creative in assessing your immigration needs and developing possible solutions.

Please call us for a free, confidential phone consultation.

For more information about our firm and current immigration news, please visit our blogs.

Caudle Immigration Blog

Business and Employer Immigration and Compliance Blog

I-601 and I-212 Immigration Waivers Blog

U.S. Citizenship and Naturalization Blog