Walters v. Reno: INS Completes Vacating Document Fraud Orders...

IMMIGRANTS & EMPLOYMENT

INS Workplace Enforcement

INS completes vacating document fraud orders under settlement in Walters v. Reno; two-year filing period for motions to reopen begins
Immigrants' Rights Update, Vol. 15, No. 5, Aug. 31, 2001

The Immigration and Naturalization Service has notified plaintiffs' counsel in Walters v. Reno that it has completed the process of vacating the final orders that were issued against class members under section 274C of the Immigration and Nationality Act (for details of the settlement, see "Settlement Reached in Civil Document Fraud Litigation," Immigrants' Rights Update, Dec. 27, 2000, p. 8). The notice was sent on Aug. 21, 2001. The INS has also sent plaintiffs' counsel a list with all the names and A-numbers of class members whose orders have been vacated. Attorneys wishing to verify that a client's order has been vacated can contact:

Linton Joaquin
National Immigration Law Center
3435 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 2850
Los Angeles, CA 90010
phone: 213-639-3900; fax: 213-639-3911
email: joaquin@nilc.org

This notice commences a two-year period in which class members who have final deportation orders, but who now are eligible for some form of relief (or are no longer deportable) because their 274C final order has been vacated, can request that the INS join in a motion to reopen. There is also a two-year period for class members who paid a fine pursuant to a 274C final order to request a refund from the INS Debt Management Center. A copy of the Walters settlement may be obtained at the NILC web site, www.nilc.org. The settlement agreement contains detail about the information that should be included in the requests for joint motions to reopen and requests for refunds. The address for the INS Debt Management Center is:

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Eastern Regional Office
188 Harvest Lane
Williston, VT 05495-7554
phone: 802-872-6200