immigration lawyers Archives – Benach Collopy, llp

Welcome to Benach Collopy as Thomas Ragland Moves on

Posted by Ava Benach
January 26, 2016

We are extremely excited to announce that Benach Ragland LLP is now Benach Collopy LLP as Thomas Ragland departs the firm at the end of January 2016. Partners Ava Benach, Dree Collopy and Jennifer Cook will continue to practice immigration law the only way we know how: strongly committed to achieving the goals of Benach Collopy clients and advancing the rights of immigrant communities. At the same time, we express our most sincere gratitude and affection for Thomas Ragland.

A Cup of Coffee at Benach Collopy

Posted by Ava Benach
March 3, 2015

We thought we were just being polite. Turns out, we were on to something. We offer all visitors to the office a drink when they arrive. In the hot, humid DC summer, a tall glass of water is almost always eagerly accepted. In winters increasing defined by the rude arrival of a polar vortex, coffee and tea warm people’s hands and hearts. Now we learn that we are not simply being polite and hospitable, but we are engaging in a good business practice.

BR “Stars” at American Immigration Lawyers Association Conference

Posted by Ava Benach
June 26, 2014

The Benach Collopy crew just returned from the annual conference of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Boston, Massachusetts . The annual meeting is the largest gathering of immigration lawyers and provides an opportunity for lawyers to learn from each other and improve their services to their clients. This year, Benach Collopy attorneys Dree Collopy and Benach, served on the conference faculty. On Friday, Dree spoke on a panel that encouraged lawyers to think about issues in removal proceedings that go beyond the availability of relief entitled “Challenges and Strategies Beyond Relief.”

Cancellation Victory (well, sort of)

Posted by Ava Benach
April 22, 2014

A couple of months ago, I got to enjoy my fifteen minutes of fame when my client became the poster child for problems caused for immigrants in immigration court by the government shutdown. I wrote a blog piece, wrote another for the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association and, next thing I know, I am speaking to Robert Siegel of NPR’s All Things Considered and people I have not heard from in decades called me to say they heard me on the radio.

BR’s Dree Collopy and Liana Montecinos Shine at AILA Conference

Posted by Ava Benach
October 25, 2013

Throughout the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s two-day conference designed to help paralegals provide more effective assistance to their supervising attorneys, faculty reviewed and discussed the paralegal’s role with regard to key legal and factual issues, as well as the preparation of application forms and supporting documentation. As members of the conference faculty, Dree Collopy and Liana Montecinos presented on asylum and removal case preparation, covering the asylum process, removal proceedings before the U.S.

Welcome Rachael Petterson

Posted by Ava Benach
September 16, 2013

Benach Collopy is very pleased to announce that Rachael Petterson has joined the firm as an associate attorney. We are very excited that Rachael has chosen to join our team and look forward to her contributions on behalf of our clients for many years to come. Rachael has been a FOBR (Friend of Benach Collopy) since our start in April 2012. A graduate of George Washington University Law School, Rachael jumped right into the practice of immigration by assuming the reigns of the GW Immigration Law Clinic while Professor Alberto Benitez was on sabbatical.

Thomas Ragland to be Honored at National Immigration Lawyers Conference

Posted by Ava Benach
June 25, 2013

On Thursday, June 27, 2013, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will bestow its highest annual honor, the Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law, to our very own Thomas Ragland. AILA is the most comprehensive and significant professional organization of immigration lawyers, comprising more than 11,000 lawyers practicing U.S. immigration law around the globe. For the past 22 years, AILA has awarded the Lowenstein award to the lawyer who has most positively impacted impacted immigration law over the past year.

The Provisional Waiver and Removal Proceedings

Posted by Ava Benach
January 17, 2013

Over the last few weeks we have answered dozens of questions about the provisional waiver. One group of questions keeps appearing- questions about how people in removal proceedings or with a removal order can qualify for the provisional waiver. Whereas, the initial rule announced by the Department of Homeland Security indicated that the provisional waiver would be unavailable to people in removal proceedings, the final rule is somewhat more forgiving.

The Immigration Industrial Complex

Posted by Ava Benach
January 9, 2013

The Migration Policy Institute recently released a study documenting that the U.S. government spent $18 billion on immigration enforcement, dwarfing the $14 million spent on other federal law enforcement agencies. The FBI, the DEA and the ATF, combined, received $14 billion. Immigration & Customs Enforcement’s budget, alone, is $6 billion. Something is seriously out of whack here. None of this is surprising to immigration attorneys. ICE runs a gulag archipelago of detention centers across the country, holding immigrants who have overstayed visas, entered without inspection, seek asylum, and committed minor offenses.

Indifference

Posted by Ava Benach
December 13, 2012

It is very true that the immigration laws need a wholesale revision. Congress needs to make substantial changes, regulations need to be re-written, precedent decisions scrapped and new guidance forthcoming. But another change is needed and this change may the hardest of all. It is a change of attitude within the agencies. We have written in this space on multiple occasions about the hostility that elements within ICE have for their political leadership and the “culture of no” within CIS has been well-documented.