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As part of GMSR’s long-standing commitment to social justice and equality, GMSR provides pro bono appellate services to individuals and to community organizations on issues of concern.

Recently, GMSR filed an amicus brief in Arias Jovel v. Garland, a Ninth Circuit appeal involving a California statute that allows people no longer in criminal custody to seek vacatur of convictions that were “legally invalid due to prejudicial error.”  Under established precedent, prior convictions vacated on this basis do not qualify as “convictions” under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and therefore cannot support deportation.  Nevertheless, the Board of Immigration Appeals concluded that the noncitizen in Arias Jovel failed to demonstrate that the vacatur of his conviction was effective to prevent his deportation.  GMSR’s amicus brief, filed on behalf of a group of former Immigration Judges and Board of Immigration Appeals members, asserts that the BIA’s statutory interpretation misunderstands immigration judges’ role, jeopardizes noncitizens’ right to due process, and will exacerbate the growing backlog of immigration cases.

Brief of Amici Curiae – View Document