U.S. Department of Justice

Executive Office for Immigration Review

Office of the Director

5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2400

Falls Church, Virginia 22041

NEWS RELEASE Contact: Public Affairs, (703)305-0289 or 305-1188

Fax: (703) 605-0365

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December 12, 1997

IMMIGRATION JUDGE TAKES OATH OF OFFICE

IN ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

ARLINGTON, VA -- Paul D. Grussendorf will be sworn in today as a new Immigration Judge. Chief Immigration Judge Michael J. Creppy will give the oath of office in an investiture ceremony at 3:00 p.m. in Courtroom 5, 901 North Stuart Street, Suite 1300, Arlington, Virginia. Judge Grussendorf joins the ranks of over 200 Immigration Court Judges located in more than 40 Immigration Courts throughout the nation.

Immigration Judges are responsible for conducting formal administrative proceedings, and act independently in their decision-making capacity. Immigration Judges preside over more than 250,000 formal removal proceedings each year. These decisions are administratively final unless appealed or certified to the Board of Immigration Appeals. In addition to determining whether individuals are admissible or removable, Immigration Judges have jurisdiction to consider applications for various forms of relief from removal. These include applications for such relief as asylum, adjustment of status, cancellation of removal, waivers of inadmissibility, and custody/bond redeterminations. Immigration Judges are also authorized to administer oaths of citizenship to naturalization applicants.

Judge Grussendorf was appointed Immigration Judge in June 1997. He is currently serving at the Immigration Court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from the University of Oregon's Honors Program in 1973, his J.D. from Howard University School of Law in 1985, and his LL.M. from the George Washington University School of Law in 1988. Judge Grussendorf served as an Electoral Observer with the Organization of American States mission in Nicaragua in 1996. From 1986 to 1996, he worked as a Clinical Law Professor directing the Immigration Clinic at George Washington University. Judge Grussendorf served as a Senior Staff Attorney at the Central American Refugee Center in Washington, D.C., from 1985-1986. Prior to law school, he worked for a decade in documentary film production and news production. Five of those years were spent in Germany. He is a member of both the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania Bars.

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