Wilder, H. Rodger

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE:

Selected for the United States Attorney General's Honor Grad Program in 1989 and assigned to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The United States Department of Justice trained me as a trial attorney to represent the United States in all matters in the prosecution of illegal aliens in U.S. Immigration Court. The cases covered a broad range of federal litigation from visa violations, marriage fraud, employer sanctions, criminal aliens, and National Security threats. Assisted the U.S. Attorney's Offices in Cleveland, Chicago. and Phoenix on criminal and civil immigration cases.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 1989-2011
Trial Attorney

U. S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, District Counsel's Office Chicago 1989-1991, Cleveland 1991- 2003. Represented the United States in Immigration Court as a trial attorney for legacy INS. Many cases involved foreign drug traffickers that were arrested and convicted in the Chicago area. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officers often testified in the deportation proceedings. O'Hare Airport as a major port of entry presented INS with thousands of cases of immigration violations.

In August and October 1990, I was a member of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Habeas Corpus team that had the task of responding to habeas corpus petitions filed on behalf of detained Cubans that Castro had released from Cuban prisons. The DOJ was successful in having these petitions denied.

During June 1991, I was an acting appellate counsel in Washington, D.C. representing the DOJ in front of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Said cases are on appeal from the US Immigration Courts. If an alien decides to appeal the decision of the BIA, that appeal is filed with the respective U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In July 1991, I was transferred to the INS Cleveland District Counsel office. My responsibilities included what is known as Employer Sanction cases that were the result of the "Immigration Reform Act" of 1986. This entailed employers that not only hired aliens not authorized to work in the US but the employer failed to make sure the new employees had the proper documentation or the appropriate visa. Companies were audited for said violations. The employers consisted of Fortune 500 corporations, professional athletic teams, and business identities from a broad cross section of Ohio. I was the point of contact in all negotiations that led to settlements of fines in most cases.

From 1996 to 2002, I was the only trial attorney in Cleveland prosecuting aliens in Immigration Court. [NS management also requested I represent the DOJ in other cities such as New York, Miami, Phoenix, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In 1997,1 was appointed to the Joint Terrorist Task Force working closely with the FBI's Terrorist Squad. The same year I discovered a member of the Irish Republican Army applying to adjust his immigration status via marriage to a US citizen from Cleveland. This began two years of the media taking up the cause of this IRA member. He was quite brilliant in having the community rally to his side. The case was resolved when his wife called to inform me that they were divorced and please make sure her husband is removed from the United States. After September 11, 2001, all terrorist groups lost their appeal to Americans, even the IRA.

In 2003 INS was merged with the US Customs Agency and formed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE now was under the new agency the US Department of Homeland Security. The merger did provide ICE with a greater budget and more aliens were detained upon their arrest for violating immigration law. The Cleveland office expanded with the hiring of additional attorneys, due to the increase of our case load.

From 2006 to 2011, I was in Immigration Court from 3 to 5 days a week. My duties now included being a source of advice to the new members of the legal staff. Also, we were responsible for giving legal advice to ICE officers in Ohio.

Professional Courses Taught:

Glynco. Georgia ( Federal Law Enforcement Academy) March 1995 & February 2000

Taught immigration officers on court room procedures for testifying as government witnesses.