Florida immigration attorney Willy Allen fears that in the United States "more asylum cases will be lost than won in the near future simply due to the pressure from the Attorney General's office, which influences the judges," he said on his weekly program on CiberCuba this Monday.
He responded this way to a question about a person who lost their asylum, is in the process of appealing, and wanted to know if they could benefit from a future law that would assist those with I-220A.
"The answer is yes. What matters, if you lost your asylum, is having appealed in time. Appeals can take up to two years. Last month, I received a response regarding an appeal for a Russian client who lost her asylum case five years ago, and there I have another avenue to legalize her," explained the esteemed lawyer.
In this regard, Allen clarified that appeals "usually take one, two, or three years, and while that appeal is pending, the 220-A residence application, your case is reopened, and the judge who denied your asylum grants you your residency," he insisted.
"I enjoy dealing with judges who deny me something, reopening the case in front of them and forcing them to grant me residency. That's my favorite part of battling with judges. When I can manage to reopen the case in front of them, they have to give me something and approve my client's case. I love that," he joked.
In response to this question, Willy Allen also answered another individual who was concerned because they have an I-220A and a cut-off date for next year, fearing deportation. In this case, the attorney insisted that this will not happen and reiterated a message of reassurance to Cubans who hold this immigration status and panicked when in March at least 18 I-220A women were detained and transferred to prisons outside of Florida.
"At this moment, the only people that truly worry me about being deported are those with an I-220B and who already have a deportation order. I also worry about people with an I-220A, who have criminal offenses in the past and who have been living here for decades without their country of origin wanting to accept them," he added.
"220-A, with a future Court date, as long as you go to Court, present yourself, do everything correctly, and commit no criminal offenses, you have no problem. The young women who were detained under I-220A are all free," he pointed out in reference to the 18 arrested and incarcerated last March. Among them, Cuban Beatriz Monteagudo Castillo, as CiberCuba was able to verify.
In mid-last month, lawyer Willy Allen stated in an interview with CiberCuba that, in his opinion, the safest Cubans and those with fewer problems in the U.S. are the I-220A. He explained that this represents a temporary relief at least until 2026, which will allow many Cubans to complete a year and a day in the United States and apply for the Cuban Adjustment Act.
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