Michael Wildes remembers the Zoom call with his clients clearly. The six adult children whose parents could face deportation stared back at him as he shared one way to help. 

“And I explained to all the kids that were assembled, one of them has to join the military,” he said. 

Wildes said it would create what’s called “parole in place.”

What You Need To Know

Immigration lawyers tell NY1 there has been a sharp rise in older cases that the government is trying to put back onto the active docket

These cases were effectively dormant as the noncitizen pursued an agreed upon status

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said these cases had been delayed indefinitely

Immigration lawyers argue some of their clients are at the mercy of a slow system

“Where they create and impute a legal entry for the parents based on the service of the child,” he said. 

The reason his clients’ children are now considering this: The government is attempting to re-calendar their cases. That’s because Wildes’ clients, a retired bus driver and housecleaner, had their cases administratively closed before, he said. 

That means the cases, agreed upon by the attorneys representing the U.S. government and noncitizen, are dormant while the person seeks status in a defined way. That could be, for example, a path to a green card through their children. 

“[President Donald Trump] is trying to scare the hell out of everyone,” he said, adding that he believed it was improper for the U.S. government to take this action. 

Another noncitizen from China had his case administratively closed about a decade ago so he could pursue a green card. His wife has a green card, and he has three adult children who are U.S. citizens, his lawyer, Ed Cuccia, told NY1. 

Cuccia said the government has petitioned to have his case reopened as well. 

Cuccia explained that there are instances where it makes sense for the government to reopen cases. That’s when the noncitizen is moving too slowly to pursue status. 

“A few of the 35 cases I have gotten so far, two or three maybe the people have been sleeping,” he said. “They should have been filing things and they weren’t.”

But he said the vast majority are still in the process of pursuing status, including his client from China, whom he referred to just by his last name to protect his identity, Chen.

Chen, who is a sushi chef and has been in the United States for decades, has spent several years filing and sending paperwork for the green card process, which Cuccia said was still ongoing. 

“I’ve been doing immigration law for 35 years. I’ve never seen this before,” Cuccia said. “This makes no sense at all.”

He said this is for a couple reasons. 

First, because the government is attempting to put Chen’s case back on the active docket, it stops any efforts to pursue a green card. A noncitizen cannot be in active deportation proceedings and applying for a green card simultaneously, Cuccia said. 

Second, Cuccia said the hundreds of thousands of cases backlogging New York City’s immigration court system means Chen will likely not get a hearing for years. He argued that Chen would have had his green card by then. 

“Just messing up the court system for no particularly good reason,” he said. 

There isn’t a way to track how many cases are being re-calendared across the country. But several lawyers NY1 consulted with are getting them too.  

Some shared they believe immigration judges will disagree with the government’s requests. But still, that is precious time being taken from these judges. 

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said the administration is following and fighting for the rule of law.

“The Biden administration chose to release millions of illegal aliens, including criminals, into the country and used prosecutorial discretion to indefinitely delay their cases and allow them to illegally remain in the United States,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “The average illegal alien gets far more due process than most Americans. The fact of the matter is those who are in our country illegally have a choice — they can leave the country voluntarily or be arrested and deported.”

In the past, Cuccia has said the Biden administration would, at times, improperly use prosecutorial discretion in cases. 

He said he believes many of these cases being re-calendared, however, is a waste of time. 

The letters, the immigration lawyers NY1 has spoken with say, can be very similar. It’s something immigration attorney David Katona said should not be the case. 

He said it should be an individualized assessment for the case being reopened. 

“There’s a practice manual that guides immigration court proceedings,” he said. “None of those procedures were followed.”