Hot Topics in Removal: Case Law Updates

Keli M. Reynolds is a partner at Olmos & Reynolds Law Group, LLP in Los Angeles. She represents clients in immigration, criminal and post-conviction matters. Ms. Reynolds has been a member of the executive committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Immigration and Nationality Section since 2014, serving as the ICE liaison. She is also currently serving as the committee’s second vice-chair. Her appellate work includes the Ninth Circuit holding in Turijan v. Holder, 744 F.3d 617 (9th Cir. 2014) that California false imprisonment is not a crime involving moral turpitude. Keli is a frequent invited speaker on immigration and post-conviction matters at Southern California law schools, as well as local, state, regional and national seminars.

Helen Parsonage, based in Winston-Salem, NC, is certified as a specialist in Immigration Law and in State/Federal Criminal Law by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. Her practice focuses on complex deportation defense and she works with Indigent Defense Services to consult on the immigration consequences of convictions. She has presented extensively on immigration law, including to the North Carolina Bar Association, North Carolina Advocates for Justice, and numerous local bar associations. She has been an invited faculty member for numerous AILA and Federal Bar Association, Immigration Law Section conferences. In addition, she has lectured on immigration, as adjunct faculty and as guest speaker, at Wake Forest University School of Law, Elon University School of Law, North Carolina Central University School of Law, and at the University of Carolina Chapel Hill, School of Law. Ms. Parsonage is a member of the EOIR Liaison team for the AILA Carolinas.

Michael Vastine joined the faculty of St. Thomas University School of Law in 2004, where he is a tenured professor of law and director of the immigration clinic.  From 2011-20, he served on the AILA South Florida Chapter Board of Directors, including a term as chair. His AILA National service includes multiple terms on the Federal Litigation Section Steering Committee, Annual Conference Planning Committee, and Amicus Curiae Committee.  His impact litigation principally relates to immigration and crimes. In addition to his own cases, he has represented AILA and other organizations in forums ranging from the BIA to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2013, Michael received the AILA (National) Elmer Fried Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Ben Winograd is an attorney at the Immigrant & Refugee Appellate Center, LLC, in Alexandria, VA. He specializes in removal defense before the Board of Immigration Appeals and federal circuit courts, and is the author of IRAC’s Index of Unpublished Decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Mr. Winograd previously worked at the American Immigration Council, where he authored amicus briefs and practice advisories for immigration lawyers. Ben was the recipient of the 2017 Joseph Minsky Award for outstanding contributions made as a young lawyer in the field of immigration and nationality law.