Gonzalez, James

Raed Gonzalez was born in Puerto Rico. He earned his B.A. (Cum Laude, 1992) and J.D. (Cum Laude, 1996) from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico in San Juan, where he was also associate editor of the law review. As part of his JD, in 1995 he studied comparative constitutional law at the University of Barcelona (Spain) taught by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He received his L.L.M. in Health Law from the University of Houston Law Center (1998).

Mr. Gonzalez is presently a senior litigator at Gonzalez Olivieri LLC and has considerable litigation experience, representing clients in immigration hearings throughout the United States, as well as in the federal district and appellate courts. Mr. Gonzalez is admitted to the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Southern District of Texas, the Supreme Court of Texas, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico and the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

His published precedent decisions include Manuel Flores Ledezma v. Gonzalez, 415 F.3d 375, 380 (5th Cir. 2005) (the first case to interpret the real ID Act in the 5th Circuit), Perez-Pimentel v. Mukasey, 530 F.3d 321 (5th Cir. 2008), McCarthy v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 459, 462 (5th Cir. 2009) (where he challenged the visa waiver entrants rights to adjust status), and most notably on his win before the U.S. Supreme Court of the U.S. in Dada v. Mukasey, 128 S. Ct. 2307, 2319 (2008) and most recently on his second grant of certiorari before the Supreme Court of the US on a collaborative effort in Alexis v. Holder, No. 09-955, _____ S.Ct. ____, 2010 (June 21, 2010).

He has been featured in Who's Who in American Immigration Law, Who’s Who in America, Telemundo, Univision, the New York Times after successfully representing Kevin Cassasola, the Honduran migrant child portrayed in the Oscar nominated HBO documentary "Which Way Home" in his asylum case, has been a frequent contributor to the Houston Chronicle, featured and interviewed by July Banderas as an expert on immigration on Fox News "America's News Headquarters", and featured on Greta Van Susteren’s “On the Record” and many more national and international media.

Mr. Gonzalez is a frequent speaker on immigration and an avid supporter of comprehensive immigration reform. Mr. Gonzalez is presently organizing the University of Texas Conference on Immigration to be held in the fall of 2012, and is the course director for the 2012 AILA Midsouth AILA Conference and the AILA Texas, OK and NM Chapter 's Immigration Fall Conference. He was the 2012 Course Director of the State Bar of Texas Conference on Immigration 101; was a speaker at the SBOT 2012 Advanced Immigration Conference on the topics of unlawful presence, bond hearings and hearing on the merits; he was a speaker at the AILA National Conference in Nashville TN, where he presented on unlawful presence; he was a speaker at the State Bar of Texas 2011 Advanced Immigration Law Course on grounds of inadmissiblity and removability; was as speaker and member of the organizing committee for the 2011 University of Texas Continuing Legal Education Immigration Conference on Practical Guide To Removal Proceedings; was a speaker and organizer of the 2010 UT Conference Immigration with an Update on Board of Immigration Appeals and Federal Court Cases, 2010; speaker at the AILA 2011 National Conference in San Diego, CA, on Advanced Federal Litigation: CAN THIS OR SHOULD THIS GO TO FEDERAL COURT?, speaker at the 2010 AILA National Conference on Washington DC, on Dada or Nada, Voluntary Departure after Dada v. Mukasey, speaker on the 2009 American Bar Association Commission on Immigration and the ProBAR, Conference "Removal Proceedings Today: A Practical Training on How to Successfully Defend Your Clients in Immigration Court, Motions to Reopen and Reconsider; speaker at the Texas Chapter Conference on Immigration in Playa Del Carmen, 2009 and 2010 among others.

Mr. Gonzalez has been honorored as a "Top Lawyer 2012" in the Fall 2012 issue of H Texas Magazine. He is listed in the category of Immigration Attorneys. He is one of only two attorneys in the Immigration Category. The annual list recognizes the top lawyers as determined by a peer voting process.

Mr. Gonzalez is a recurring Pro Bono counsel for Catholic Charities Archdiocesis of Galveston, Houston, Texas, the US Department of Health Administration for Children and Families Office of Regufee and Resettlement, the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (PROBAR), South West Key Program, Houston, Texas, the Mexican Consulate, Houston Texas, and works with individual cases involving Violence Against Women’s Act cases and unaccompanied minors cases.

GO LLC is proud to continue Mr. Raed Gonzalez’ distinguished record and dedicated service to our immigration clients by concentrating his practice in U.S. Immigration & Nationality law. We vouch to represent individuals who need such assistance throughout the United States and around the world.