The Baltimore Immigration Court recently granted a client’s application for cancellation of removal following an over four-hour individual calendar hearing on the merits of the relief application. The client, who was a 15-plus-year lawful permanent resident, faced deportation from the country on account of a drug-related charge conviction. Following a contested removability hearing, where Maryland Immigration lawyer Himedes Chicas held the government to its burden of proof, including filing written legal briefs to the Court, the Court allowed the Client to proceed with his cancellation application. The Client had various criminal convictions spanning over several years, which weighed against the Court finding that he merited a favorable exercise of discretion. Maryland immigration attorney Chicas implored the Court, however, to weigh heavily the Respondent’s favorable equities, including his vast U.S. family ties and his genuine rehabilitative efforts. The Court agreed with Mr. Chicas and granted the cancellation application, giving the JM Client a “second chance,” but noted that this was a borderline case. The Court’s granting of the cancellation application not only ensures the JM client will remain with his family in the U.S., but also ended his over 7-month immigration detention.
