Former Federal Immigration Judge at the Boston, MA and Chelmsford, MA Immigration Courts.

Member of the North Carolina and Massachusetts State Bars;  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals; Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals; The Cherokee Supreme Court (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians); U.S. District Courts: Western District of North Carolina & U.S. District Court of Massachusetts. The United States Supreme Court. 

Attorney George D. Pappas handles the following immigration matters:

DACA

Renewals

Initial Applications

Family Immigration

Citizenship

Green Cards

Employment Petitions

Employment Visas

Green Cards

Business Visas

EB1 EB2 EB3 Visas

E visas

L visas

Immigration Court Defense

Asylum

Cancellation of Removal

Bonds

Appeals to Board of Immigration of Appeals

Appeals to U.S. Federal Courts

Special Visas/Services

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS)

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

U Visas (Victims of Crimes in the US)

Consular Processing

The London School of Economics & Political Science, The University of London B.Sc. (Econ) Hon. – 1982 (Special Subject: Monetary Economics); The University of London (LL.B. Hon. 1998); Widener University School of Law (LL.M. – Master of Laws in Corporate Law & Finance, 2000).  Birkbeck School of Law, University of London Ph.D. (2014).

The National Committee for Refugees and Immigrant Children (Washington, DC); The Political Asylum/ Immigration Representation Project (PAIR), Boston, MA; and The Latin Advocacy Coalition (Hendersonville, NC) and Pisagh Legal Services (Asheville, NC).

Book

Author of the “Ther Literary and Legal Genealogy of Native American Dispossession: The Marshall Trilogy Cases 1923-1832,” (Taylor & Francis, 2016).

Articles

Published in Critical Legal Thinking, Truth Out, The American Banker, Countertrade-Barter Quarterly, The Courier-Post, Folio Magazine, The Greek National Herald, The Malet Street Gazette and The Asheville-Citizen Times. 

International Bar Association (I.B.A), London, England – 1999-2004; American Bar Association (ABA) Member 2003-2019;   American Inns of Court (Bobbitt Inn, Charlotte, NC) 2003-Present: Mecklenburg Country Bar (Section on Immigration) Association 2006-2007; North Carolina 26th Judicial District 2003-2012; Mecklenburg County Indigent Defense Attorney Panel 2003-2010; ; Mecklenburg County Lawyers Referral Service (Co-Chair 2005-2006; Panel Member 2003-2011); Pro Bono Attorney (Children’s Law Center, Charlotte, NC) 2003-2006; American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) 2006- Present, and U.S. Committee for Refugees & Immigrant Children (Washington, D.C.) 2006-Present. Member 28th Judicial District – Buncombe County, NC 2012-Present.

• DACA – In 2012-2013 I successfully processed over 75 DACA applications in North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina. Each successful application resulted in my clients obtaining  employment authorization leading to the acquisition of a Social Security number and a valid drivers license. These clients no longer live in the shadows of society.

• BIA Appeal Success! With only a few hours before my client was scheduled to be deported, I filed an emergency motion with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to “stay” his deportation and have my client’s matter “re-opened” based on new evidence and lack of “due process” – my motion was granted. Today, my client’s matter has been sent back to Immigration court for further review even though the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) submitted a written “opposition” to my motion with the BIA.  Meanwhile, my client, his wife and his three young US born children still have hope that they will be permanently reunited.  Update: My client was granted U.S. Citizenship in 2021.

• Cancellation of Removal Defense – I defended and successfully cancelled the removal of a legal permanent resident (LPR) after my client was prosecuted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Boston Immigration Court based on an offence dating back to 1994.   After presenting convincing evidence and creditable witnesses, DHS agreed that my client deserved to stay in the United States at the end of the hearing.  The Immigration Judge agreed and issued a final order canceling my client’s deportation. My client is free, a legal permanent resident today and applying for U.S. citizenship.

• Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence – I have successfully argued in North Carolina Mecklenburg District Court that a plaintiff who has threatened their undocumented spouse with “telling the immigration authorities” about their status is evidence of domestic violence.  This was the first case in the United States to rule on this point.

• Waiver Success – I have adjusted the status for an applicant who was denied a green card because he once lied about his social security number. The applicant was granted a green card and today is a taxpaying resident.

• U Visa Success – I have obtained legal status and work permits for a child who was a victim of human trafficking.

• I have obtained freedom for a legal permanent resident who was picked up by Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) raid without lawful justification.

• I have helped clients avoid deportation/removal marks against their records.

• I have helped clients obtain U.S. Citizenship.

• Congressional Petition Success – I helped a client obtain his green card after being denied by USCIS because he was brought to the United States when he was young child by his parents who were undocumented at the time. 

• I have helped clients adjust their German E Treaty employment status to obtain a green card for themselves and their family.

AILA Member since 2006.