Bautista-Perez v. Eric Holder, et al.

GBDH and co-counsel Jonathan Kaufman (Law Office of Jonathan Kaufman) have been appointed class counsel for 400,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras who have been overcharged by the US Government for registration or re-registration for Temporary Protected Status.  Plaintiffs filed Bautista-Perez, et al. v. Holder, et al., No. C 07-4192 TEH, alleging that the US Government’s requirement that TPS registrants and re-registrants pay additional biometrics fee upon re-registration of TPS, even though their biometric data was being reused, violates the statute limiting TPS registration fees to a one-time charge of $50.  Plaintiffs have defeated two motions to dismiss filed by the Government, which has repeatedly argued that this case belongs in the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. rather than in the Northern District of California.  The most recent order denying the Government’s motion to dismiss can be found at 2009 WL 1202261 (N.D.Cal. May 1, 2009).  On July 9, 2009, Judge Thelton Henderson certified this nationwide case as a class action under Rule 23(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

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