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Benjamin Osorio

Partner

Benjamin Osorio is a tireless advocate for individuals in removal proceedings. He has extensive experience in immigration courts across the country including Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Arlington, Lumpkin, Baltimore, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Newark, Harlingen, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Benjamin has won a diverse range of immigration matters including multiple victories in matters before the Board of Immigration Appeals and in the United States courts of appeals. Benjamin has experience in both criminal law and immigration law. As a former clerk in a prosecutor’s office and a criminal defense practitioner, Benjamin understands the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.

Benjamin’s work with immigrants is not merely professional but also personal. Benjamin is the son of a Venezuelan immigrant, and has spent extensive time working in both Guatemala and Spain. Benjamin speaks Spanish and volunteers with various nonprofit legal services agencies including the Immigrant Justice Campaign, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and CARA.

Bar Admissions

  • Georgia
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • 3rd Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals
  • 4th Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals
  • 5th Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals
  • 9th Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals
  • 11th Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals

Awards/Recognitions

  • 2024: The Best Lawyers in America®, Best Lawyers

Representative Matters

United States Supreme Court

  • Santos-Zacaria v. Garland, 598 U.S. 411 (2023) - The Supreme Court held that the INA provision stating that a court may only review a final order of removal if the noncitizen “has exhausted all administrative remedies available…as of right” is a non-jurisdictional rule. The Supreme Court also held that the petitioner need not file a discretionary motion to reconsider with the BIA in order to exhaust all of their administrative remedies available as of right.

U.S. Courts of Appeals

  • Ferrer v. U.S. Attorney General, 2024 WL 729952 (11th Cir. 2024) - Vacating the BIA's decision, where the BIA failed to consider if the minimum conduct of Virginia's receipt of stolen property rises to the level of "vile, base, or depraved."

  • Martinez Rios v. U.S. Attorney Gen., 2023 WL 5603211 (August 30, 2023 11th Cir.) - The Eleventh Circuit held that the BIA failed to give reasoned consideration to the petitioner's arguments that her crime failed to qualify as an aggravated felony.

  • Garcia Hernandez v. Garland, 27 F.4th 263 (4th Cir. 2022) - The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the petition for review of BIA's order finding that the the BIA acted contrary to law by applying the wrong standard to the petitioner's motion to reopen. The Fourth Circuit also held that the framework from Zambrano, which discussed the standards in examining changed circumstances, should have been applied to the petitioner's asylum application.

  • Madrid v. Garland, 855 Fed. Appx. 155 (4th Cir. 2021) - The Fourth Circuit granted our client's petition for review finding that the Board of Immigration Appeals failed to apply the correct stop-time rule. The Fourth Circuit stated: In Niz-Chavez, the Supreme Court stated that the government may "invoke the stop-time rule only if it furnishes the alien with a single compliant document explaining what it intends to do and when." The document must include the "time and place at which the proceedings will be held." 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a)(1)(G)(i). Thus, the Board's reliance on In re Mendoza-Hernandez to rule that Madrid's period of continuous presence terminated in 2008 when she received her notice of hearing was in error.

  • Flores v. Garland, 3 F.4th 615 (4th Cir. 2021) - En banc decision finding that when considering the persecution and unable and unwilling prongs of the asylum analysis, the adjudicator must take into consideration the applicant's age at the time of the events if they were a minor and judge those standards from the perspective of child. A monumental decision that will directly affect and benefit many asylum seekers who suffered harm as a child.

  • Alvarado v. Barr, 832 Fed. Appx. 181 (4th Cir. 2020) - Finding that DHS failed to rebut the presumption of a well-founded fear and remanded to the Board of Immigration Appeals to reconsider the applications for asylum.

  • Jones v. U.S. Attorney General, 742 F. App’x 491 (11th Cir. 2018) – Holding that the noncitizen’s conviction was not an aggravated felony crime of illicit trafficking of a controlled substance.

  • Vassell v. U.S. Attorney General, 839 F.3d 1352 (11th Cir. 2016) – Holding that Georgia “theft by taking” is not an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act because it does not require property to be taken without consent.

Board of Immigration Appeals

  • Matter of Dingus, 28 I&N Dec. 529 (BIA 2022) - The Board held that if a State court’s nunc pro tunc order modifies or amends the subject matter of a conviction based on a procedural or substantive defect in the underlying criminal proceedings, the original conviction is invalid for immigration purposes and that immigration courts will give full effect to the modified conviction.
  • Board held that the Immigration Judge erred by considering Jamaican client’s conviction an aggravated felony and remanded for further proceedings
  • Board held that the Immigration Judge erred by not properly addressing the likelihood of harm for Vietnamese woman who sought protection under the Convention Against Torture

Immigration Courts

  • Removal proceedings terminated for Jamaican woman charged as an aggravated felon. Successfully argued that her conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute qualified as neither a controlled substance offense nor a drug trafficking crime. (Atlanta)
  • Removal proceedings terminated for Nigerian woman had been convicted of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and been charged as an aggravated felon. (Atlanta)
  • Withholding of removal granted for Honduran client with 2 DUI convictions who had been threatened by an individual with ties to organized crime in Honduras. (Arlington)
  • Won cancellation of removal for lawful permanent residents for Vietnamese woman despite several DUI and drug convictions. (Atlanta)
  • Persuaded DHS and Immigration Judge to administratively close case of Honduran individual convicted of a DUI. (Philadelphia)
  • Won withholding of removal for Salvadoran woman with three DUI convictions including one felony. Proved that she would be harmed by La Sombra Negra, a vigilante group, if she returned to El Salvador.
  • Won asylum for Salvadoran woman who suffered severe beatings and abuse from her domestic partner. (Arlington)
  • Won administrative closure for Salvadoran man who was permanently inadmissible, thus allowing him to remain in the United States with his U.S. citizen wife and two U.S. citizen children. (Baltimore)
  • Won temporary protected status granted for Salvadoran man by successfully arguing that his two convictions did not meet the definition of a “crime” under the Code of Federal Regulations. (Arlington)
  • Won withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture for young man who had 4 marijuana convictions and was charged as an aggravated felon. (Arlington)
  • Convinced Immigration Judge that Honduran woman had a credible fear of persecution, where she endured traumatic beatings and rape by her prior husband, despite inconsistent testimony to an asylum officer. (Miami)
  • Won withholding of removal for Salvadoran man with two DUI convictions whose family was harmed by MS-13 gang members. (Arlington)
  • Won Withholding of removal for Guatemalan man who was previously deported. Proved that he suffered a past threat to his life or freedom on account of his family ties and that he would be harmed if he returned to Guatemala.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

  • Obtained release of Vietnamese individual detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for longer than 6 months in Georgia after her final removal order.

Criminal Cases

  • Won dismissal of DUI in Georgia State Court where police arrested the defendant without probable cause.
  • Won acquittal by jury trial for Mexican individual charged with battery in the Cobb County State Court, leading to him not being placed in removal.
  • Won dismissal of assault and battery charge in the Clarke County State Court allowing Salvadoran individual to remain eligible for cancellation of removal and avoiding further immigration consequences.

Speaking Engagements

  • Frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education seminars for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, including in Vienna in 2016, Brussels in 2017, and Johannesburg in 2018

Media Appearances

While Murray Osorio is proud of its past accomplishments, every case is different and past success is no guarantee of future results.

Interesting Fact

When Ben is not running around after his twin daughters he is working out, cooking, or traveling to new places with his wife. When he has some time off, he spends it at home with his two mastiffs and three cats.