Asylum Lawyer in Jackson, MS

Two kinds of asylum case from Jackson

The forum depends on whether a deportation case has already begun. A person in Jackson, Pearl or Forest who has never received a Notice to Appear files Form I-589 with USCIS. That is an affirmative case, decided by a USCIS asylum officer after an interview, and the interview notice states where and how the interview will take place. A person who was released at the border with a Notice to Appear, or who was arrested later, is in removal proceedings, and the asylum claim is decided by an immigration judge. That is a defensive case. Because Mississippi has no immigration court, a non-detained defensive case from Jackson goes to the New Orleans Immigration Court, One Canal Place, 365 Canal Street, Suite 500, New Orleans, LA 70130. Residents of Mississippi north of Jackson are heard instead at the Memphis Immigration Court, 80 Monroe Avenue, Lower Level Suite G-10, Memphis, TN 38103.

An asylum seeker arrested in central Mississippi is usually held at the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, about 100 miles from Jackson, or moved to Louisiana. Detained cases from Adams County, Jena and Richwood in Monroe are heard at the LaSalle Immigration Court, inside the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center at 830 Pine Hill Road in Jena. Cases from Pine Prairie and Winn are heard at the Oakdale Immigration Court, 1900 East Whatley Road, Oakdale, LA. Detained dockets move quickly: the full claim, with testimony and evidence, can be decided within a few months while the person remains in custody. That speed is why the declaration and documents must be gathered from Jackson in the first weeks, often while the family works on a bond request at the same court.

Wherever it is heard, the applicant must prove past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, by the government or by people the government cannot or will not control. Credibility is decided first, so the written declaration, the testimony and the documents must be consistent. Country-conditions reports, police and medical records from home, statements from witnesses and, where it fits, a psychological evaluation build the case. If asylum is barred, withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture are decided in the same hearing; they prevent return to the country of fear, though they do not lead to a green card.

From the Jackson office we take the applicant's history in Spanish or with an interpreter for other languages, draft the declaration, collect the evidence, and file the I-589 with USCIS or with the court. We prepare the applicant and witnesses in Jackson before each interview or hearing and appear in New Orleans, Memphis, LaSalle or Oakdale. A spouse and unmarried children under 21 who are in the United States can be included as derivatives. The applicant can request a work permit once the application has been pending 150 days, and USCIS can grant it at 180 days if the applicant has not delayed the case. If the judge denies the claim, we evaluate an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals within 30 days.