Lakin & Wille LLP
Immigration Attorneys

Amalia

 
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contact

(510) 379-9217 amalia@lakinwille.com

1939 Harrison Street, Suite 420
Oakland, CA 94612

Amalia Wille

partner

Amalia’s practice focuses on removal defense, family-based immigration, immigration law and crimes, complex motions to reopen, appeals, and representing immigrants before the federal courts. She represents asylum-seekers and has expertise in defense against terrorism and security-related bars to admission. She also specializes in immigration detention issues.

Amalia is a lecturer at U. C. Berkeley School of Law, where she supervises law students representing immigrants before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals through Berkeley Law’s Ninth Circuit Practicum. She is co-class counsel in Aleman-Gonzalez v. Sessions, a class action case that mandates prolonged detention bond hearings for individuals detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(6) in the Ninth Circuit, and in Zepeda Rivas v. Jennings, a class action that has successfully challenged immigration detention conditions in Northern California during the COVID-19 pandemic. She currently serves on the Amicus Committee for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She previously served on AILA’s national Asylum and Refugee Committee, and as the liaison to ICE for AILA’s Northern California Chapter.

Prior to forming Lakin & Wille LLP, Amalia was an associate attorney at Van Der Hout LLP for six years, where she honed her skills in litigation, and gained experience in a wide-range of complex immigration matters.

Representative Cases

  • Gonzalez-Castillo v. Garland, 47 F.4th 971 (9th Cir. 2022) (holding that an Interpol Red Notice alone is insufficient to sustain the serious nonpolitical crime bar to asylum and withholding of removal) (with Berkeley Law)

  • Perera v. Jennings, 598 F. Supp.3d 736 (N.D. Cal. 2022) (holding that mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. §1226(c) was unconstitutional where noncitizen lived in the community for multiple years before his immigration detention)

  • Centro Legal de la Raza v. Exec. Off. for Immigr. Rev., 524 F. Supp. 3d 919 (N.D. Cal. 2021) (granting nationwide preliminarily injunction against administrative rule that limited the immigration courts’ powers to administratively close and sua sponte reopen cases)

  • Jorge M.F. v. Jennings, 534 F. Supp. 3d 1050 (N.D. Cal. 2021) (enjoining ICE from re-incarcerating petitioner on procedural due process grounds without an additional hearing before an Immigration Judge)

  • Valenzuela Gallardo v. Barr, 968 F.3d 1053 (9th Cir. 2020) (holding that the Board of Immigration Appeals’ definition of “obstruction of justice” contravenes Congress’s intent) (counsel for amici)

  • Zepeda Rivas v. Jennings, 465 F. Supp. 3d 1028 (N.D. Cal. 2020) (granting motion for a preliminary injunction on behalf of all individuals incarcerated by immigration authorities in Mesa Verde and Yuba detention facilities, finding Plaintiffs likely to succeed on their claim that current conditions at the facilities violate their due process rights by unreasonably exposing them to a significant risk of harm)

  • Bahena Ortuno v. Jennings, 2020 WL 2218965 (N.D. Cal. May 7, 2020) (granting preliminary injunction finding that six medically vulnerable individuals were likely to suffer irreparable injury if not released during the COVID-19 pandemic)

  • Martinez Franco v. Jennings, 456 F. Supp. 3d 1193 (N.D. Cal. 2020) (ordering immigration authorities to provide individual with a bond hearing before an Immigration Judge)

  • Aleman Gonzalez v. Barr, 955 F.3d 762 (9th Cir. 2020) (affirming that individuals detained for six months under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(6) are entitled to individualized bond hearings in the Ninth Circuit)

  • Ortega v. Bonnar, 415 F. Supp. 3d 963 (N.D. Cal. 2019) (enjoining ICE from re-arresting petitioner and holding that it would be a violation of due process to permit ICE to re-arrest petitioner without a hearing in front of a neutral adjudicator)

  • Aleman Gonzalez v. Sessions, 325 F.R.D. 616 (N.D. Cal. 2018) (ordering the government to provide prolonged detention bond hearings for all individuals detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(6) in the Ninth Circuit)

  • Huelgas v. Sessions, 723 F. App’x 439 (9th Cir. 2018) (holding that an Immigration Judge’s failure to advise an individual of apparent eligibility for relief from deportation can constitute grounds to equitably toll the motion to reopen deadline)

  • Rajwayi v. Sessions, 692 F. App’x 815 (9th Cir. 2017) (holding that a severe mental condition can be a basis to equitably toll the motion to reopen deadline)

  • Singh v. Holder, 771 F.3d 647 (9th Cir. 2014) (holding that the Board of Immigration Appeals has authority to reopen proceedings to allow an individual to seek adjustment of status before USCIS)

Presentations & Publications

  • Panelist, Emerging Strategies for Prolonged Detention, Immigrant Legal Resource Center (Dec. 2022)

  • Panelist, Emergency Legal Challenges to Imminent Removals: Emergency Challenges to Administrative and Reinstatement Orders, Emergency EOIR Motions to Reopen, and Whether Habeas is a Viable Option, Practising Law Institute (Aug. 14, 2019)

  • Panelist, Hot Topics in Bond, Immigrant Legal Resource Center (Dec. 12, 2018)

  • Panelist, Habeas Petitions for Detained Individuals, AILA California Chapters Conference (Nov. 2, 2018)

  • Practice Tips for Challenging Immigration Detention in the Wake of Jennings v. Rodriguez, PLI Current, Volume 2, No. 3 (Summer 2018)

  • Panelist, Reopening Cases for Justice: Basic Rules and Advanced Strategies for Motions to Reopen Immigration Cases, Practising Law Institute (Mar. 14, 2018)

  • Panelist, The End of DACA: What You Need to Know, Practising Law Institute (Sept. 15, 2017)

  • Panelist, Refugees and Asylees: Issues with Adjustment and Naturalization, AILA Webinar (Apr. 13, 2017)

Education

BERKELEY LAW
J.D., 2013, Order of the Coif

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
B.A., English and Spanish, 2006, magna cum laude

Languages

Spanish

Bar Admission

California

U.S. District Courts: Northern District of California, Central District of California

U.S. Court of Appeals: First Circuit, Ninth Circuit

United States Supreme Court