Raed Gonzalez, JD, LLM, Chairman

RAED GONZALEZ, JD, LLM

Raed Gonzalez was born in Puerto Rico. He earned his B.A. Cum Laude in 1992, and his J.D. Cum Laude, in 1996 from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico in San Juan,  where he served as associate  editor of the school’s law review. As part of his legal studies, in 1995 he studied comparative constitutional law at the University of Barcelona in Spain, where he received instruction from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.  Mr. Gonzalez then received his L.L.M. in  Health Law from the University of Houston Law Center in 1998.

He has served as an immigration law practitioner for almost twenty-five-years and is eligible to practice in the Southern District of Texas Federal Courts, as well as in the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 5^th, 6^th, 9^th, and 11^th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as in the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Gonzalez is recognized as an outstanding immigration litigator and advocate in the U.S., and his opinions are respected and trusted in the legal community. Recently, he won a groundbreaking victory at the Fifth Circuit in Rodriguez v. Garland, 15 F. 4th 351 (5th Cir. 2021), where the Court recognized for the first time that a noncitizen who is issued a Notice to Appear failing to contain the date and time of the noncitizen’s hearing, cannot be ordered removed in the noncitizen’s absence, since such an individual never received valid statutory notice under U.S. immigration law. The Fifth Circuit’s decision in Rodriguez has been heralded by immigration advocates nation-wide as a substantial win for noncitizens seeking to legalize their status so they can remain in America with their families.

Mr. Gonzalez’s other often-cited case decisions include: Campos-Chaves v. Garland, No. 20-60262 (5th Cir. 2022) (finding that Rodriguez does not require reopening in cases where a noncitizen cannot dispute receipt of a Notice of Hearing after receiving a defective Notice to Appear); Eneugwu v. Garland, No. 20-61162 (5th Cir. 2022) (declining to equitably toll a motion to reopen’s filing deadline, despite allegations prior counsel provided ineffective assistance, where the alleged ineffective assistance did not result in the motion’s untimely filing); Parada v. Garland, Case No. 19-60425 (5th Cir. 2022) (rejecting ICE argument that the stop-time rule is triggered, regardless of a noncitizen’s service of a putative NTA failing to contain the date and time of the noncitizen’s immigration court hearing, when a noncitizen is ordered removed); Pena-Lopez v. Garland, 33 F.4th 798 (5th Cir. 2022) (finding that federal courts retain jurisdiction to review a Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”) motion to reopen claim where the Board of Immigration Appeals misapplied the legal standard, codified by VAWA’s timeliness exception to the undisputed facts of a case); Esparza v. Garland, 23 F.4th 563 (5th Cir. 2022) (finding that a conviction for deadly conduct under Texas Penal Code § 22.05(a) is categorically a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude under the Immigration and Nationality Act); Vazquez-Guerra v. Garland, Case No. 18-60828 (5th Cir. 2021) (first published case in the Fifth Circuit to recognize that one central reason governs nexus in the asylum and withholding of removal contexts); Flores-Ledezma v. Gonzalez, 415 F.3d 375 (5th Cir. 2005) (the first case to interpret the real ID Act in the Fifth Circuit), Perez-Pimentel v. Mukasey, 530 F.3d 321 (5th Cir. 2008); McCarthy v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 459 (5th Cir. 2009) (challenging Attorney General regulations on visa waiver entrants’ rights to adjust status); Gonzalez-Cantu v. Sessions, 866 F.3d 302 (5th Cir. 2017); Mauricio-Benitez v. Sessions, 908 F.3d 144 (5th Cir. 2018); Flores-Moreno v. Barr, No. 19-60017 (5th Cir. 2020) (first Fifth Circuit case recognizing that due diligence for the purposes of equitable tolling is a question of law that Circuit Courts of Appeal have jurisdiction to review); Dada v. Mukasey, 128 S. Ct. 2307 (2008) (winning a groundbreaking victory before the U.S. Supreme Court where the Court granted and remanded the case); Alexis v. Holder, No. 09-955, unpublished (June 21, 2010) (receiving a second grant of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court on a collaborative effort); Mata v. Lynch, 135 S.Ct. 2150 (2015) (holding in an 8-1 decision that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in finding that it did not have jurisdiction to review the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of an untimely motion to reopen); Diaz-Esparza v. Sessions, No. 17-820, unpublished (June 15, 2018); Angeles v. Barr, No. 18-60715, unpublished (May 1, 2020); Yanez-Pena v. Barr, 952 F.3d 239 (5th Cir. 2020), petition for cert. granted, —- U.S.L.W. —- (U.S. Apr. 8, 2020) (No.19-1208); Olvera v. Garland, Case No. 20-1070 (2021) (Supreme Court remand in light of the fundamental change in law brought about by Niz-Chavez v. Garland, 53 U.S. __ (2021)); Figueroa-Diaz v. Garland, Case No. 20-517 (2021) (winning remand at the Supreme Court); Navarette-Lopez v. Garland, Case No. 20-1021 (2021) (also winning remand at the Supreme Court); Argueta-Ayala v. Garland, Case No. 20-268 (2021); Mauricio-Benitez v. Garland, Case No. 20-1250 (2021).

In addition, attorney Gonzalez has served as expert on immigration cases on many matters including disciplinary proceedings on behalf of the State Bar of Texas. He has participated in and has also organized the State Bar of Texas’ Conference on Immigration Law 101 for the year 2012, and the 2013 Texas bar Conference, the 2013 American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) Texas Chapter Immigration Conference on South Padre Island, the University of Texas Conference in 2014, the AILA Playa del Carmen 2014, and the AILA 2015 Fall Conference in Minneapolis. Mr. Gonzalez has also been featured in Who’s Who in American Immigration Law, Who’s Who in America, Telemundo, Univision, and the New York Times after successfully representing Kevin Cassasola, the Honduran migrant child portrayed in the Oscar nominated HBO documentary “Which Way Home.”

Mr. Gonzalez has been a frequent contributor to  the Houston Chronicle and for his efforts with AILA in supporting comprehensive immigration reform he was featured and interviewed by July Banderas as an expert on  immigration on Fox News America’s News Headquarters, on Greta Van Susteren’s On the Record, and on Judge Jeanine Pirro’s Justice, as well as many more national and international media events.

Attorney Gonzalez’s work for his community extends well-beyond his private practice. He and his staff frequently volunteer their time to assist with planning and hosting community citizenship drives, DACA forums, and law enforcement-public forums. At these events, Mr. Gonzalez’s trained, professional staff-members educate and help volunteers to fill out immigration applications, and the firm’s attorneys provide legal assistance with more complicated cases by giving free consultations. Additionally, in his zealous advocacy for the rights of all immigrants, attorney Gonzalez also provides a myriad of services and assistance to Catholic Charities, the Tahirih Justice Center, FIEL (Familias de Inmigrantes en la Lucha), FLAS, INC. (Fundación Latino Americana De Acción Social) and many other non-profit organizations dedicated to bettering the greater-Houston area. Mr. Gonzalez’s tireless devotion ensures that each and every one of his clients gets their fair day in court.

​Email: [email protected]  | Contact Gonzalez Olivieri LLC
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