AILA Presents Thomas Edward Moseley with the 2016 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award

WASHINGTON, DC - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will award Thomas Edward Moseley, of Newark, NJ, with the 2016 Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for excellence in litigation in the field of immigration law. He will receive the award this week during AILA's Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV.

Thomas E. Moseley has been an AILA member for more than 25 years. Since opening his solo practice in 1996, he has defended immigrants using the litigation skills that he developed as an Assistant United States Attorney. Early on, together with Michael P. DiRaimondo, he was an active part of the team effort that successfully preserved judicial review in the Yesil and Henderson litigation.

His litigation efforts have spanned nearly two decades. In Velasquez v. Reno, he successfully litigated one of the first cases that turned back the government's effort to apply the mandatory detention provisions of IIRAIRA to all convictions prior to the effective date of that legislation. As counsel in Valansi v. Ashcroft, he persuaded the Third Circuit that intent to defraud has to be an element of embezzlement under 18 USC §656 for that offense to constitute a crime involving fraud or deceit under 8 USC §1101(a)(43)(M)(i). Later in Pinho v. Gonzales, he prevailed in applying the categorical approach to determine whether a conviction was vacated for criminal law reasons instead of for immigration purposes. More recently, in Parra-Rojas v. Attorney General, he obtained a decision that narrowly construed the smuggling bar to admissibility as not including a person who picked up people after they had crossed the border.

In Martinez v. Mukasey, he convinced the Fifth Circuit that the limitation on relief for permanent residents under Section 212(h) imposed by IIRAIRA did not apply to those who had adjusted status to permanent residence. The victory in Martinez was taken up by other private practitioners and the American Immigration Council to convince most of the other federal circuits to adopt this construction of Section 212(h). As part of this effort, he persuaded the Sixth Circuit to follow Martinez in Stanovsek v Holder. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) would eventually acquiesce in the Martinez line of case in Matter of JHJ.

Mr. Moseley has been a frequent presenter at AILA events, the Practicing Law Institute, and the Federal Bar Association, as well as guest lecturer at Rutgers and New York Law School. This past year, he served on the AILA Amicus Committee. He has also made himself available to assist other attorneys, especially those just starting out in the immigration field.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.