Evolve Federal Credit Union v. Barragan-Flores

Loan Cross-Collateralization FCU v. Barragan-Flores
Feb08

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri The practice of cross-collateralization involves using an asset as collateral for another loan in addition to an earlier loan.[1] In the event that a debtor cannot make repayments on either loan on time, lenders can force the liquidation of the asset and use the proceeds to repay the debt on the loan.[2] This practice is used in “various forms of financing, from mortgages to credit cards.”[3] Should the debtor be unable to make timely payments on either of the loans, the debtor can establish a bankruptcy plan

February 8, 2021
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ACLU Sues DHS, et al., Over Cellphone Tracking of Immigrants

ACLU Sues DHS, et al., Over Cellphone Tracking of Immigrants
Jan12

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri A recent source of controversy in the Trump Administration’s typically hardline approach to illegal immigration concerns the surveillance of social media by Homeland Security Investigations to tracking down immigrant activity, violations, and the First-Amendment-protected expression disapproved of by authorities that lead to detention and deportation.[1] Recently, this has entailed tracking and gathering information from electronic devices such as laptops, tablets, thumb drives, and cell phones.[2]   For instance, searching these devices and using tools to unlock encrypted information on these devices of those coming

January 12, 2021
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Obama-era DACA Program Reinstated by New York Federal Court Order in Vidal v. Wolf

DACA Program Reinstated by New York Federal Court Order
Dec29

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri In what counts as a severe blow to the Trump administration’s revamped immigration system in its final month, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued an order to reinstate the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program DACA to its pre-Trump administration status.[1]   Before President Trump tried to end it in September of 2017, DACA served to permit young immigrants without legal status but had been brought over as children, to live and work legally in the U.S.[2]   This was

December 29, 2020
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Supreme Court Conditionally Recognizes the SEC’s Right to Disgorgement

SEC Right to Disgorgement Recognized by The Supreme Court
Sep25

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has long argued that as part of penalties sought from parties accused of unlawful activities in violation of securities laws, the SEC had a right to disgorge from the profits of the liable party as part of the remedies it could seek.[1] Disgorgement refers to a remedy by which parties who profited from illegal or wrongful conduct (“ill-gotten gains” so to speak) must return those profits that they made from that conduct to those they harmed in order to make them whole.[2]

September 25, 2020
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Supreme Court Defines Standard of Education to Be Provided in Special Education IEP’s Under the IDEA of 1990

Special Education IEP’s Under the IDEA of 1990
Sep09

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri On March 22, 2017, the United States Supreme Court reached a decision on what advocate\s have described as “the most significant special-education issue to reach the high court in three decades.”[1] The Supreme Court finally set out the standard by which a free appropriate public education (FAPE) could be defined under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act of 1990. In a landmark ruling, Endrew F. v. Douglas Cnty. Sch. Dist. RE-1, the Supreme Court ruled that in order “[t]o meet its substantial obligation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

September 9, 2020
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Supreme Court Rules Unanimous for Child’s Right to Use Service Dog as Part of Special Education Accommodations under IDEA and Section 504

Supreme Court Rules for Child’s Right to Use Service Dog
Sep04

Written by Taher Kameli & Chathan Vemuri On February 22, 2017, the Supreme Court in Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools ruled that a claim involving the right of a disabled child to rely on a service animal in her elementary school did not involve education specifically and therefore did not require exhaustion of administrative remedies under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (IDEA) before filing a private lawsuit.[1]   This ruling was of special significance to those combatting discrimination in educational spaces outside of the confines of IDEA. Specifically, the Court made an important distinction between claims involving

September 4, 2020
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The Supreme Court’s Confirmation of SEC’s Disgorgements in Liu v. SEC

Confirmation of SEC’s Disgorgement in Liu v. SEC
Aug31

Written by Taher Kameli & Julie Seong A recent the United States Supreme Court decision confirmed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can seek disgorgement of ill-gotten gains as an equitable remedy in SEC enforcement actions in federal court. Liu v. SEC was a case involving the SEC and married couple Charles Liu and Xing Wang, who was ordered to pay the $26.7 million they had collected from immigrants and misappropriated. On June 22, 2020, the Supreme Court’s Liu v. SEC ruling upheld the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ability to recover ill-gotten gains from those who commit financial

August 31, 2020
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Despite Requests from Trump Administration, Many State Departments of Motor Vehicles Have Not Turned Over Driver’s License Records to Census Bureau

Driver’s License Records not Turned Over by State Department
Nov08

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. It has often been said that the only governmental authority that has generally blocked the anti-immigration actions of the Trump administration has been the Federal judiciary.  In fact, there is another possible governmental authority that has in certain cases resisted the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration – the states. As an example of such state opposition to the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration, despite requests from the Trump administration, many state Departments of Motor Vehicles have not turned over driver’s license records to the Census Bureau. In June,

November 8, 2019
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Supreme Court Grants Stay of Injunction Allowing Trump Administration’s New Asylum Restrictions to Take Effect

Trump Administration’s New Asylum Restrictions Take Effect
Oct16

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. While the Federal judiciary has generally been the principal obstacle to the anti-immigration efforts of the Trump administration, the Supreme Court has sometimes overruled lower Federal courts and upheld the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration.  For example, the Supreme Court has upheld the “Trump travel ban” and allowed the use of Department of Defense funds to build the United States-Mexico border wall. As another example of the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Trump administration on an immigration issue, on September 11, the Supreme Court granted a stay

October 16, 2019
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Supreme Court Approves Broadened Government Power to Detain Criminal Immigrants

Criminal Immigrants Detained by U.S. Government
Mar21

Written by: Taher Kameli, Esq. If you oppose President Trump’s immigration policies, did you vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election?  One effect of President Trump being elected is that he is able to appoint Supreme Court justices who share his harsh views on immigration.  This point was evidenced in the March 19 Supreme Court decision in the case of Nielsen v. Preap (Case No. 16-1363), which held that the government has a broad right to detain immigrants with past criminal records under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA

March 21, 2019
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