| Robledo v. Napolitano Litigation |
September 25, 2009 - Victory in Maryland! The Court finds that the plain language of 8 U.S.C. § 1151(b)(2)(A)(i) does not automatically strip an alien, whose citizen spouse filed an I-130 petition but died before it was adjudicated, from classification as an “immediate relative” solely because the citizen died before the couple’s second wedding anniversary.
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Robledo Order Granting MSJ |
April 15, 2009 - Plaintiffs Robledo and Hassan file a Reply in Support of their Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiffs urge the court to follow the Sixth and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decisions in Lockhart and Freeman, and reject the Robinson case.
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Robledo Reply |
March 2, 2009 - DHS Responds to arguments made by Plaintiffs' counsel, and counters with support from the flawed Robinson case from the Third Circuit.
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Robledo DHS Response MSJ |
January 26, 2009 - Steptoe & Johnson attorney Michael Pass files Opposition to Motion to Dismiss and Cross Motion for Summary Judgment, in response to government motion to dismiss.
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Robledo Response to Motion to Dismiss |
December 9, 2008 - Department of Homeland Security, through a team of lawyers including Rod Rosenstein, United States Attorney, Jason D. Medinger, Assistant United States Attorney, Jeffrey S. Robins and Patricia Bruckner with the Office of Immigration Litigation, bring a challenge to the Robledo v. Chertoff case. Specifically, they ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit on a number of grounds, including that Mrs. Robledo is no longer the spouse of her husband, that her son is no longer the son of her late husband, and that Mrs. Hassan-Norris is no longer the spouse of her husband. Lawyers from Steptoe & Johnson will prepare a response by the deadline this month.
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DHS Motion to Dismiss Robledo v. Chertoff case |
October 2, 2008 - Mrs. Maria Paula Robledo, the surviving spouse of American citizen Duglio Ricci, and Mrs. Robledo's son Mateo Pinzon have joined with Mrs. Zainab Hassan-Norris, surviving spouse of American citizen Larry Vincent Norris to challenge the widow penalty in Maryland. The case is Robledo v. Chertoff, No. AW-08-CV-2581 (D. Maryland Oct. 2, 2008). Both Mrs. Robledo and Mrs. Hassan-Norris entered the country legally, married their American citizen husbands, and filed the necessary paperwork to become legal residents. Upon the death of their husbands, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) automatically denied their applications because the USCIS bureaucracy had not yet reached their applications. This case may be considered a landmark filing, because it is the first time a minor child (7 year old) has challenged the automatic termination provisions in court. This case involves not only the widow penalty, but the orphan penalty.
Lawyers from the Washington, D.C. firm of Steptoe & Johnson, Michael Pass and David Rifkind, are representing Mrs. Robledo, her son Mateo, and Mrs. Hassan-Norris.
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Robledo v. Chertoff Complaint |
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