immigration lawyers

JOSEPH REINA 

Founder,

Reina & Bates Immigration and Nationality Lawyers

Mr. Reina is in his twenty-fifth year as a lawyer, practices immigration law exclusively, and has been Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law since 2000.  From 2003 to 2009, Joe served on the immigration and nationality law examination committee of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. 

 A statewide survey of his peers, conducted and published by The Texas Lawyer, ranked Joe amongfive top immigration lawyers in Texas.  He has appeared in Best Lawyers in America from 2002 to 2012, and in Super Lawyers (by Thomson Reuters)  in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Mr. Reina has handled hundreds of deportation cases successfully, including the precedent cases, Deanda-Romo, 23 I&N Dec. 597 (BIA 2003), and Quilantan, 25 I&N Dec. 285 (BIA 2010).  Though decisions of American consular officers are generally not subject to judicial review, Mr. Reina has successfully challenged the doctrine of “consular nonreviewability” in several federal suits resulting in “about-face” reversals of originally adverse decisions.  He has also filed numerous successful actions over naturalization delays and denials.

Joe has authored over thirty articles on immigration law, including Coming to America:  The “Immigration Dartboard” – A Graphic Presentation of Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Avenues into the United States, 14 Bender’s Immigration Bulletin 672 (June 1, 2009), “Hyperequities”: 212(c) and Cancellation of Removal After Matter of Jean, 7 Bender’s Immigration Bulletin 1549 (Dec. 15, 2002), and “Hyperequities” II: The Removal Case in Detention, published by the University of Texas School of Law.  He has been recognized as an expert on immigration law in several federal and state courts.

From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Reina was chairman of the Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico Chapter of AILA.  In 2003 and 2004, he served on the National Liaison Committee of AILA to the Executive Office for Immigration Review – the agency that houses the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals. 

From January 2005 to April 2006, Mr. Reina was officially retained as counsel to the Consulate of Mexico in Dallas on matters involving U.S. immigration law.

He has served as adjunct professor of immigration law at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas and frequently speaks at immigration-law conferences.  Mr. Reina has also conducted training for the staff of several non-profit immigration-service organizations.

In 2002, Catholic Charities of Dallas recognized Mr. Reina’s outstanding mentoring of lawyers representing detained aliens in deportation cases.  He has been a member of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas for over ten years and of the College of the State Bar for over five.

Licensed in Texas and in Washington, D.C., Mr. Reina has practiced law for almost twenty-four years.  He graduated from Georgetown University in 1984, where he attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.  In 1987, Joe graduated from the University of Houston Law School, which he attended on a scholarship from the Lillian Kaiser Lewis Foundation.  He also studied at the University of Dijon in 1982 and at the University of Salamanca in 1984.   

Joe is an avid technical and trimix SCUBA diver, and a professional divemaster.  His marine photography appears at www.fluctuat-nec-mergitur.com.  A licensed pilot, he often flies himself to court appearances and other professional engagements.  He is fluent in French, Italian, and Spanish.

by Thomson Reuters