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| Osserrita Robinson, whose American citizen husband was killed in the Staten Island Ferry Crash |
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| "After her husband of eight months died in the Staten Island ferry crash of Oct. 15, 2003, Osserritta Robinson, a Jamaican immigrant, decided to stay in the United States and proceed with her application for permanent residency. But at Ms. Robinson’s interview for residency in 2005, the immigration official had some more bad news: Mr. Robinson’s death had disqualified her application." New York Times, February 1, 2009.
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July 23, 2009 - Mrs. Robinson filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court today. In doing so, she is asking the nation's highest court to settle a circuit split between the Third Circuit, which decided that she stopped being the spouse of her late husband, and the First, Sixth and Ninth Circuit Courts of appeal, which have held that a surviving spouse does not automatically lose the status of spouse when the American spouse dies during bureaucratic immigration processing.
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Robinson Petition for Certiorari to the Supreme Court |
May 11, 2009 - Justice Souter of the United States Supreme Court GRANTED an Application for Extension of Time to File Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court that was filed today. The request asked the Supreme Court to extend the deadline for filing an appeal, called a Petition for Writ of Certiorari, to the Supreme Court to July 31, 2009. The Application was filed by Don Ayer, Lawrence Rosenberg, Meier Feder and Christopher Smith with the Jones Day law firm, Samuel Estreicher of the New York University Supreme Court Clinic, Jeffrey Feinbloom of New York, and Brent Renison of Oregon. The extension will provide additional time for preparation, and will also allow more time for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to review the Agency's policy toward widows and widowers of United States citizens. The Supreme Court may review whether to hear the case during the Fall.
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Robinson Extension Grant |
| March 3, 2009 - Petition for rehearing has been DENIED. This means that none of the judges voted to rehear the case before the full court, and that only Judge Nygaard voted to have the panel of three judges hear the case again. A petition for writ of certiorari may now be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court within 90 days of the denial of rehearing. Mrs. Robinson has indicated that she will appeal to the Supreme Court, although the chances of the Court hearing the case are 4%. Unless the Supreme Court overturns the Robinson decision, widows and widowers in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will now be subject to automatic termination and deportation.
Call The Senators in those areas NOW!
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Robinson Denial of Rehearing |
February 20, 2009 - Circuit Judge Dolores K. Sloviter, who authored the majority opinion in Robinson v. Napolitano, GRANTED the motion by Surviving Spouses Against Deportation to file an Amicus Curiae Brief (friend of the court brief) in support of Mrs. Robinson's Petition for Rehearing En Banc. Pursuant to the Order, Brent Renison, pro bono Counsel for SSAD, filed the Amicus Brief with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The granting of SSAD's motion is not an indication that the Court will rehear the case, but SSAD has now been heard on the issue. We await the Court's ruling, which will directly affect many grieving spouses and their children and families.
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Robinson v. Napolitano Brief of Amicus Curiae SSAD in Support of Petition for Rehearing En Banc |
Robinson v. Napolitano Order Granting Leave to File Amicus Brief |
| February 17, 2009 - A Petition for Rehearing En Banc was filed in the Robinson case, asking that the full court of judges rehear the case and overturn the 2 to 1 split decision. If one of the judges calls for a vote, and a majority of the judges vote to rehear the case, it could be set for rehearing. Failing that, if the decision stands, Mrs. Robinson intends to seek Supreme Court Review. The Supreme Court hears only about four percent of cases that seek review, and usually only in cases of a circuit split (two circuit courts disagree, such as the case here with Freeman and Robinson disagreeing), where an important matter is at stake.
Surviving Spouses Against Deportation, through pro bono counsel Brent Renison, filed a motion for leave to file an Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) brief, along with a proposed brief in support of Mrs. Robinson's petition. If the Court grants the motion, SSAD will be allowed to file the proposed brief.
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Robinson v. Napolitano Petition for Rehearing En Banc |
SSAD Motion for Leave to File Amicus Brief |
SSAD Proposed Amicus Brief in Robinson v. Napolitano |
Read the PRESS RELEASE following the Robinson v. Napolitano Ruling
February 2, 2009 - The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today in a precedential opinion that Mrs. Robinson's eligibility for immediate relative status depends on her status at the time USCIS adjudicates the I-130 petition, not when her husband Louis filed it on her behalf, and further that she is no longer the spouse of Louis Robinson because he died in the Ferry crash. This opinion allows Mrs. Robinson to be denied permanent resident status and face deportation. The opinion was 2 to 1, with Judge Nygaard dissenting (disagreeing). Judge Nygaard correctly pointed out in his dissent,
"Finally, it is inconceivable to me that Congress intended the alien's status to be contingent upon the amount of time that the executive department takes to process a timely and proper petition - a factor completely outside of the control of the alien. This interpretation creates an arbitrary, irrational and inequitable outcome in which approvable petitions will be treated differently depending solely upon when the government grants the approval. Nor do I believe that Congress intended to sanction the disregard that the department has shown towards persons like Osserritta Robinson. She has committed no crime. She is innocent of any misbehavior. She is a grieving widow and the lone parent of the Robinsons' U.S. citizen child. This same department whose delay or inaction forecloses Osserritta Robinson's chance of becoming an American, now so diligently pursues the avenues of her expulsion. It contends that the statute is ambiguous and then urges upon us the least reasonable and least humane alternative. My view, wholly in the margin, is that it is untoward of this nation of immigrants, we who have passed thorugh the portals of citizenship, to coldly and impassively slam the door behind us on innocent aspirants who dream to follow."
Mrs. Robinson may now petition the court for rehearing en banc (to argue the case before the whole court, not just three judges), and may seek review before the U.S. Supreme Court. She has good reason to do so, because the judges in the majority (Judges Sloviter and Fuentes) seemed to believe that only aliens who were married at least two years could obtain permanent resident status, something which is not true. The majority also ignored the conditional resident statute, 8 USC 1186a, which clearly does not allow a termination of resident status upon the death of the spouse, specifically in cases where the marriage is less than two years. We look forward to the opportunity to bring this case before the full Third Circuit Court, and if necessary the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Robinson v. Napolitano Decision |
September 9, 2008 - Oral Argument took place on September 9, 2008 in the U.S. Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before Third Circuit Judges Sloviter, Fuentes, and Nygaard. The judges announced at the end of the argument that the case was important, and that they would take the case under advisement.
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Robinson v. Chertoff Oral Argument |
February 11, 2008 - DHS files a Reply to Mrs. Robinson's brief. The parties now await Notice of Oral Argument.
January 23, 2008 - Mrs. Robinson, through her attorney Jeffrey Feinbloom of New York, files her response brief to the government's appeal of her victory in the District Court. The Third Circuit's decision in her case will have widespread impact on surviving spouses in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
December 27, 2007 - Government files Appeal Brief. Alison Drucker, Senior Litigation Counsel with the Office of Immigration Litigation argues that Mrs. Osserritta Robinson should be denied the status of immediate relative because her husband died before her client agency, USCIS, could act on the couple's applications. Please note this amended brief replaces the earlier filed brief, which contained inaccurate information.
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DHS Reply - Robinson |
Mrs. Robinson's Brief in Response |
DHS Brief Robinson v. Chertoff |
July 2, 2007 - After compounding Mrs. Robinson's loss by denying her application for residency on the basis that her spouse died, the government continues to pursue Mrs. Robinson by appealing the victory in her case! The Assistant United States Attorney Alex Kriegsman has filed a notice of appeal to the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Citation to the decision now is: Robinson v. Chertoff, No. 06-5702, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34956 (D.N.J. May 14, 2007) (unpublished), appeal docketed, No. 07-2977 (3d Cir. July 5, 2007).
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Robinson v. Chertoff Notice of Appeal |
VICTORY!!!
On May 14, 2007, United States District Judge Stanley R. Chesler ORDERED judgement in favor of Mrs. Robinson, who received a denial of her application for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident status solely due to her husband's tragic death. The judgement orders U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to treat Mrs. Robinson as a spouse of a U.S. citizen when adjudicating her application. This judgment was entered in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Congratulations to Jeffrey Feinbloom of New York City on the victory!!!
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Robinson v. Chertoff ORDER |
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