NSC advocates at the Third Circuit

James A. Byrne Courthouse in Philadelphia, PA

On Wednesday, January 18 NSC will be before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. Jonah Eaton (Director of Legal Services at NSC, arguing on behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Southern Poverty Law Center), with Ben Hooper of the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, will be arguing the case.

The client is an asylee who fled a brutal civil war in his home country and was granted asylum over 20 years ago, and now has four U.S. citizen children. DHS is attempting to deport the client because of a non-violent criminal conviction without a full immigration hearing where he can raise other defenses against deportation. NSC will argue that the statute requires giving our client the opportunity to apply for a green card before an immigration judge, a right created by the Refugee Act of 1980.

NSC works to protect and promote immigrants’ rights by providing comprehensive legal services all levels of practice. Unusual for an agency of our size, NSC provides expert representation before the federal courts, and our attorneys have litigated habeas and mandamus petitions before federal district courts, and both appeals and petitions for review before the U.S. Court of Appeals. In 2020, NSC attorneys successfully litigated German Santos v Attorney General before the Third Circuit, clarifying and expanding the rights of non-citizens to challenge their prolonged detention by the immigration authorities.  Read more on our website.