Speaker 1: Hello, my name is Camilo Rodriguez and I am an attorney advisor with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the government agency that oversees the U.S. immigration courts. It's important to understand that even though I'm a lawyer, I'm not going to be your lawyer and cannot represent you in immigration court, nor does the following presentation constitute legal advice. During this presentation, we will cover the following information. What will happen at your hearing today, legal documents, future court hearings, defense against removal, also known as deportation, and legal services that may be available to help you. When you spoke with a United States officer, you were given a document called a Notice to Appear, often referred to as the NTA. If you do not have the NTA with you in court, please tell the immigration judge and they will make sure you get a copy. This document is perhaps the most important document in your immigration case. It is important to make sure that your personal information on the NTA is correct, including your name, your date of birth, your country of origin, the date of entry into the United States, and how you entered or attempted to enter the United States. If something is incorrect on your NTA, you must notify the immigration judge at your master calendar hearing and you may be asked to show evidence regarding the incorrect information. For example, if your name is wrong, bring your birth certificate or passport to verify the correct spelling of your name. If you do not have these documents, please notify the immigration judge and attempt to get this evidence before the next hearing. You may also notice a line at the top right-hand side of the NTA that says File Number. The Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, assigned each of you a unique nine-digit number. This number is called the A number, the Alien Registration Number. This is the identification number for all of your immigration court proceedings, including immigration court and any matters before DHS. The NTA lists the reasons why the Department of Homeland Security believes you should be removed from the United States. The first three allegations will have the following information. You are not a U.S. citizen or national, your country of origin, and how and when you attempted to enter the United States. After these allegations, the Department of Homeland Security will list the reasons why they think you should be deported or removed from the United States. For example, if you entered without permission and never got a green card, the NTA may say that you are in the United States without authorization. It is very important that you attend every scheduled hearing. The law says that the immigration judge must order you removed from the United States if you receive proper notice of your hearing and you do not appear at your hearing at the scheduled date and time. Do not be late. Plan to arrive early for each hearing. There may be security procedures or long lines, so plan enough time to be in the courtroom when your hearing is scheduled to begin. If your hearing is in person at the immigration court, you can expect the following setup. The immigration judge sits at the front of the court in the middle. The judge will be behind a large desk, often called the bench, and will usually wear a black robe. To the side of the judge, there is a desk with a computer that is for the judge's assistant. There are two additional tables with chairs that face the judge. One table is for the Department of Homeland Security attorney and the other is for you and your legal representative, if you have one. There is also another desk that is for the interpreter who the court arranges to attend to assist with interpreting between English and your language or dialect. You must wait for the interpreter to finish interpreting before you start speaking. The judge may call the interpreter on the phone if an in-person interpreter is not available. Everything that you, the judge, the interpreter, and the Department of Homeland Security attorney say during the hearings will be recorded. If your hearing is by telephone or is held online, you can appear from a quiet location. If you have a legal representative, please check with them to learn whether you should be in the same location as the representative. During your proceedings at the immigration court, you have specific rights. You have the right to know the charges against you. Reviewing the NTA is important, but the court will also explain the charges to you. You have the right to review the evidence against you and question any witnesses the Department of Homeland Security brings to court to speak about your case. You also have the right to bring your own witnesses to speak on your behalf and to present your own evidence. You have the right to have an interpreter who speaks your best language to help you communicate with the court and understand what is going on during your hearing. The interpreter will be provided and paid for by the government. You do not have to provide your own interpreter. It is important to indicate the language in which you communicate best. If an interpreter in that dialect is not immediately available, the court will reschedule your hearing for a different date so they can find an interpreter. If you do not agree with the immigration judge's decision, you have the right to appeal your case to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Please also remember that you have the right to bring an individual qualified to represent you at your hearing in immigration court, such as an attorney or accredited representative. Though the government does not arrange for your representation and will not pay any representative you bring with you, you should let the judge know if you want a representative and are having trouble finding one. The judge cannot appoint a representative in most cases, but it is important to let the judge know you are trying to find help for your case. If you do not wish to have a representative, you are allowed to represent yourself in court. Finally, if you cannot find someone to represent you, you must represent yourself in court. In your notice of hearing, you will see that there are two types of hearings, master calendar hearings and individual or merits hearings. Your first appearance before an immigration judge will be for a master calendar hearing. You should expect other people with cases before the judge to be in the room at the same time for this type of hearing. It is important that any family members who are in proceedings with you and who are part of your case must attend all hearings with you. These hearings tend to be short, but that will depend on the complexity of your case and the amount of information the judge needs to discuss with you. Also, it is possible that you may have to stay in the courtroom while the judge completes all of the master calendar hearings scheduled for that session. You will be presented with several options when you see the judge at this hearing. First and foremost, this is your opportunity to tell the judge whether or not you want to fight your case and remain in the United States. You can ask the judge to give you the opportunity to leave the United States on your own with fewer negative consequences than you would have if ordered removed. You can ask for more time because you are seeking a legal representative or need more time to work on your own case. The immigration judge will give you a list called the List Pro Bono Legal Service Providers, which contains the names of individuals and organizations who may be able to help you or even represent you. The immigration judge should give you this list at the first hearing. If you do not receive this list, or if you lose the list, please ask the immigration judge for another copy. If you decide to fight your case and try to stay in the United States and the judge believes you to be eligible to apply for relief from removal, the judge will ensure you receive a blank application to fill out and submit. The judge will give you instructions for filling out the application and providing any evidence you might have. The judge will then schedule your next hearing, called an Individual Merits Hearing, which will be to focus on your case alone. In this individual hearing, you will be able to tell the judge why you believe you qualify for relief from removal. As part of this hearing, you may want to present evidence in your case or bring witnesses to speak to the judge on your behalf. If you do, be sure to provide any evidence to the immigration court and to the Department of Homeland Security at least 15 days before the scheduled hearing, and be sure to notify the judge of any witness you plan to have with you. Ensure that the Department of Homeland Security may also present evidence and ask you and your witnesses questions. I spoke a little bit earlier in this video about your right to have a legal representative at no expense to the government. It is important that you are careful when hiring someone to represent you. There are two main categories of people you may hire to represent you, licensed attorneys and fully accredited representatives. If you find an attorney to take your case, be sure to ask to see proof they are licensed in a U.S. state. For accredited representatives, ask them to show you their name on the EOIR list of accredited representatives. You can find the list on the EOIR website. Other types of representatives include U.S. law students or law graduates under the supervision of licensed attorneys, reputable individuals, accredited foreign government officials, and certain individuals authorized to practice on or before December 23, 1952. These types of representatives are less common, however. If the individual representing you in immigration court makes a mistake in your case, you have the option of filing a complaint about their services. Be aware of people who promise services that are too good to be true, who claim to have special relationships with U.S. government officials, or who guarantee results. Notarios and immigration consultants cannot give legal advice, prepare forms or applications for you, or appear with you in court unless they also meet the qualifications for one of the categories I just described to you. If you move from the address you initially provided to the U.S. government, then you need to notify the immigration court and the Department of Homeland Security by using the change of address form EOIR-33. Fill out this form and then mail one copy to the immigration court, mail another copy to the Department of Homeland Security, and be sure to keep a copy for your own records. These forms can also be submitted electronically on EOIR's website at respondentaccess.eoir.justice.gov. You must submit the change of address form within five days after moving to the new address. You must submit a change of address form at any time your address changes. It is important that the immigration court knows where to mail information about your hearing, or else you could miss a hearing notice and potentially end up being ordered removed from the United States in your absence. Just because you move, even when you notify the court you have moved, does not mean your hearing will move to a new location. If you would like to change the location of your next hearing to a court closer to your new address, you will need to ask the immigration court for permission to transfer your case. To do this, you will need to submit a motion to change venue to the immigration court where your hearing is currently scheduled, and request that the immigration court transfer your case to the immigration court you want that is closer to your new address. You can also ask the immigration court in person at your next hearing to change the venue for your case, but that must still be done in the court where your case is assigned. You must continue to attend all scheduled hearings at the court where your case is assigned until the immigration judge grants your request to change venue to another court. There are many defenses against removal, also known as relief or protection from removal. Always seek legal assistance to determine what defenses may apply to your case. The most common defenses include relief from removal through adjustment of status or asylum, as well as protection from removal through withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Additionally, if you are a United States citizen, you are not removable. You may be a U.S. citizen if you were born in the United States, your parents or grandparents were born in the United States, or your parents became U.S. citizens before you turned 18. Remember that you could be a U.S. citizen even if only one of your parents is a U.S. citizen. You may be eligible to stay in the United States by becoming a Lawful Permanent Resident or LPR. Another term for LPR that you may be more familiar with is Green Card Holder. You become an LPR by adjusting your status, which is possible if your partner is a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident, you have a child who is at least 21 years old and who is a U.S. citizen, you have a parent who is a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident and you are not married, you have a parent who is a U.S. citizen and you are married, or you have a brother or sister who is a U.S. citizen and over 21 years old. A judge may grant asylum in your case if you can prove one or more of the following scenarios applies to you. First, if you have suffered persecution in your country of origin and or are afraid of being hurt if returned, the persecution must be based on your nationality, religion, race, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Next, if the government slash police are unwilling or unable to protect you, the persecutor may be the government or a group that the government cannot control or protect you from. It must also be true that there is no other place in your country where you can reasonably live safely. Please note that persecution cannot just be fear that your country is very violent or that there is a lot of crime. It is also not justified only by poverty or wanting a better education or a better future for your children. If you are eligible for asylum, you must apply within one year of entering the United States. Be sure to pay attention to this time frame and contact the court or a representative if you are nearing the first year within the United States. If your judge grants you asylum, you will be eligible for permanent residence one year from the date you are granted asylum. You may also be able to bring your children and spouse to the United States. An outcome similar in nature to asylum is called withholding of removal and is based on the same considerations discussed previously about asylum. Withholding of removal applies to those cases where the individual has been previously deported and has reentered the United States. Individuals who do not apply for asylum within one year of arriving in the United States or individuals who otherwise are not eligible for asylum. Although it does not provide the same protections and privileges that come with a grant of asylum, this status will prevent an individual's removal to the country or countries where they establish a fear of persecution. I previously mentioned Convention Against Torture Protection. You will only be granted protection against being returned to a country under the Convention Against Torture if you can show that it is more likely than not that you will be tortured in that country by the government or the government will ignore it if someone else tries to torture you in that country. Torture means that someone intentionally uses mental or physical pain or suffering to force you to do something or to punish you. There are a few ways to find out the status of your immigration court case. The first is by telephone. Call U.S. 1-800-898-7180, which is the national phone number of the immigration courts. You will need your alien registration number that begins with the letter A and has 9 digits. The phone number has an automated response and you can then follow the recorded instructions to obtain information about your case. The information is available in English and Spanish. You will press 2 for Spanish. You need to enter all 9 digits of your A number. Press 1 to confirm your A number. Press 1 to confirm your name. Press 1 to find out when your next court date slash hearing is. Again, that phone number is 1-800-898-7180. Additionally, you can find information about your case, along with a lot of other helpful information on immigration court processes, online. That website is https://icor.eoir.justice.gov/. https://icor.eoir.justice.gov/. Thank you for your time and attention today. I hope you found this information helpful.