Los Angeles DHS Trail Attorneys Implement New System for Removal Cases
January 11, 2010
The Office of Chief Counsel (OCC), who are trial attorneys representing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during removal proceedings, in Los Angeles implemented a new system on February 1, 2010, that is anticipated to more effectively facilitate the handling of removal cases. Known as Unit Prosecution (UP), the system seeks to alleviate the increasing caseload burdens faced by the immigration courts through greater continuity and accountability by their trial attorneys.
Modeled after the UP system in San Francisco, the trial attorneys, or Assistant Chief Counsels, are assigned to teams within the Los Angeles office of the OCC. Each team is lead by a senior Asst. Chief Counsel who acts as the team leader. Each team is assigned to handle cases before specific judges only.
The assignment of Asst. Chief Counsels to teams and specific judges is a significant change in the operations of the OCC. The assignment of specific Asst. Chief Counsels to judges will foster greater familiarity of the Asst. Chief Counsels to the requirements of the judges to which they are assigned. It will allow more efficient scheduling of cases and management of the court’s docket.
The UP system should also enable greater efficiency in the actual litigation of removal cases. For much too long, it has been extremely difficult to discuss issues of a case and attempt to resolve them with an Asst. Chief Counsel because it was never easy to determine which Asst. Chief Counsel was responsible for the case. Under UP, a specific Asst. Chief Counsel will be assigned to particular cases so that the immigrant’s attorney can more readily discuss and attempt to resolve issues involved with them. The same Asst. Chief Counsel that prosecutes the case at the individual hearing will continue to be responsible for the case through the appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals, again creating efficiency for both the immigrant’s attorney and the OCC.
The changes to the Los Angeles office of the OCC have been implemented through their new Chief Counsel, James Stolley. In a recent seminar we attended where Mr. Stolley was the keynote speaker, Mr. Stolley emphasized that the UP system should result in more streamlined processing of removal cases as the Asst. Chief Counsels will now be more accountable for communicating with immigrant’s attorneys to resolve issues. Whereas a return phone call by an Asst. Chief Counsel was few and far between, Mr. Stolley emphasized the new policy of his office to return phone calls and communicate with immigrant’s attorneys in the processing of removal cases. Although the system is new, progress seems to already be taking place as the phone numbers of the Asst. Chief Counsels have been made available to immigrant’s attorneys, including Mr. Stolley’s should the assigned Asst. Chief Counsel fail to timely communicate with private counsel.
The pressures of individuals burdened by removal proceedings have been compounded through the years due to the difficulty that immigrant’s attorneys have encountered with the procedures and lack of effective communication by the Office of the Chief Counsel. The new Unit Prosecution system should alleviate at least some of these problems and allow more effective representation by immigrant’s attorneys. Individuals daunted by removal proceedings should ensure effective representation by having an attorney thoroughly familiar with the immigration laws and removal proceedings in particular.
For further information, please schedule an appointment at Aquino & Aquino, A Professional Law Corporation, 625 Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 101, South Pasadena, CA, 91030; (626) 799-3089; info@aquinolaw.net.
Aquino & Aquino, A Professional Law Corporation, also handles family law, employment discrimination, unlawful termination, criminal defense, personal injury, wills, and living trusts.
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