|
CABA's Board Member, Joan O. Pinnock in the News Jamaican Deportee Wins Chance To Return To The U.S. 
CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 18, 2010: Approximately two-and-a-half years after Jamaica national Vanvern Blake was ordered removed from the U.S., he has been welcomed back.Blake recently won the right to return to the U.S. after his attorney, Joan O. Pinnock, presented compelling evidence to support her client`s claim to U.S. citizenship. Blake`s mother had previously spent thousands of dollars for the legal defense of her son, but to no avail. He had been deported following a conviction of one count of sexual assault in a Connecticut Court. In June of 2008, four months after his deportation, the Board of Immigration appeals decided in another court decision, ironically involving a different Jamaican national that a child under 18 years of age derives citizenship from his U.S. citizen parent, as long as that parent proves that he or she had legal custody of the child, who was a permanent resident, and that the parents were never married. In November of 2009, after being introduced to Blake`s mother, Pinock recognized that Blake met all the requirements under that ruling and immediately made contact with the US Embassy in Kingston. After submitting all the requested documentation to the US Embassy in Kingston, Ms Pinnock received an email that the U.S. passport for Vanvern Blake was ready to be picked up in Jamaica. On faith alone, Pinnock booked a round trip ticket to Jamaica and a one way ticket for her client, believing that he would return with her. At the border in Miami Florida, Blake was sent to a separate room for questioning, accompanied by his attorney. A scan of his passport indicated a prior deportation from the U.S. But after Pinnock presented the case and argued that her client was indeed a U.S. citizenship under law, he was welcomed back to the U.S. Pinnock is president of the Jamaican- American Bar Association, North East, a non-for-profit organization formed to address the needs of Jamaican Americans in the north east. At the forefront of JABA`s agenda for 2010, is addressing the issue of deportation of Jamaican Nationals, back to Jamaica. Pinnock, provides pro-bono legal services to the Jamaican Consulate in the area of deportation and also to many Jamaican nationals who cannot afford legal representation. For more information, contact JABA at (201) 966-7119, or visit their website at www.Jabane.org.
|
