Usher Law Group, P.C.
Usher Law Group is an immigration practice built on more than 15 years of representing immigrants. It has run from the same Sheepshead Bay office since 2013, and it takes immigration matters from every state and every United States territory. This site is our crimmigration practice: what a criminal charge or plea does to a person's immigration status, and what to do about it before and after the plea.
Mikhail Usher has represented immigrants for more than 15 years, and founded the firm in 2013. The crimmigration work sits where two cases meet. On the criminal side, we advise defendants and their criminal defense lawyers on the immigration consequences of a charge and of every plea on the table: which category the offense falls into, which grounds of removal and which forms of relief it touches, what sentence threshold matters, and what to ask the prosecutor for instead. We put that advice in writing as a Padilla memo the defense lawyer can rely on and the record can show. On the immigration side, we defend the removal case when a conviction leads to proceedings, and we coordinate post-conviction motions in the criminal court with the immigration case so that the two run on one calendar.
This site exists because a plea is a decision made once, usually fast, and the immigration answer is rarely in the room when it is made. We tie the rules we state to their primary sources and show when a page was last brought current, the plea tool applies only rules checked that way, and we update the pages and the tool when the primary sources change rather than on a fixed schedule.
Four services, one first step
Reading the charge against the immigration statute
On this site the firm does four things: it takes the criminal case when a negotiated plea is the goal, in the courts where our attorneys are admitted, New York, New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania; it writes the opinion letter when you already have a defense lawyer; it defends you in immigration court if a conviction leads there; and it files the applications that come after.
Each is described on the services page, and each starts with the free plea review.
Immigration law is federal
The immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals and USCIS are federal tribunals and agencies, which is why our attorneys' state admissions do not limit where we can advise on a plea or appear in a removal case.
We work with criminal defense lawyers anywhere in the United States, and the firm's criminal defense practice handles matters in the courts where our attorneys are admitted.
Who would work on your case
Mikhail Usher, Esq.
Founder and managing attorney
Mikhail Usher founded the firm in 2013 and runs it. He is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey and Florida. In the federal system he is admitted in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, the District of New Jersey, and the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, and in the First, Second and Third Circuits, as well as the Board of Immigration Appeals and EOIR.
He studied political science at Brooklyn College and earned his law degree at St. Thomas University School of Law. Thomson Reuters selected him for the Super Lawyers New York Metro Rising Stars list from 2015 through 2018 and for the Super Lawyers list in 2019 and 2020.
He is a member of AILA, the American Bar Association and the New York County Lawyers Association. He speaks English, Russian and Spanish.
Alexander Susi, Esq.
Associate
Alexander Susi is an associate at the firm. He was admitted in New York in 2022 and in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 2023. In the federal system he is admitted in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, the District of New Jersey and the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Second Circuit, and the Board of Immigration Appeals and EOIR.
He studied history and political science at New York University and earned his law degree at Boston University School of Law, where he did pro bono work for veterans and survivors of domestic violence.
His practice covers immigration from deportation defense through asylum, civil and commercial litigation, and merchant cash advance defense.
Mitchell Bromberg, Esq.
Associate
Mitchell Bromberg is an associate at the firm. He was admitted in New Jersey in 2023 and in New York in 2024. In the federal system he is admitted in the Eastern District of New York and the District of New Jersey.
He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and then his law degree at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
His practice centers on deportation defense, detained clients, bond proceedings, appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals, motions to reopen deportation orders, U visas, family immigration, asylum petitions and citizenship applications.
How we work on a plea
An attorney does the analysis
Paralegals and staff support the work, but reading the charge against the immigration statute, the categorical analysis and the memo are attorney work.
We answer the question that was asked
Does this plea trigger a ground of removal, which one, and what does it do to each form of relief. Then what to ask for instead: a different count, a different sentence, a different record.
We put it in writing
A Padilla memo goes to the defense lawyer before the plea, so the advice is on the record and the defendant can make the decision with the immigration answer in hand.
We never call a plea safe
We say what a category of plea does and does not trigger and which questions decide the rest. "Safer" is the strongest word we use.
We tell you the weaknesses
Including when the statute is broader than the federal definition and the answer depends on the record, and including when the honest advice is that no available plea avoids the consequence.
After a plea, we go down the whole list
Whether the conviction actually fits the charged ground, whether it can be vacated or the sentence changed for a defect in the case, and which waiver or form of relief survives it.
We charge flat fees and confirm them in writing
Government filing fees are not our fees, and we say which is which every time money comes up.
We say no
If the case belongs with a different firm, or if there is no route left, we tell you rather than taking a retainer.
Where the rest of the practice lives
Usher Law Group handles immigration, civil and commercial litigation, merchant cash advance and UCC defense, criminal defense, family law including uncontested divorce, employment law, and consumer protection. This site is one of the firm's practice sites.
Usherlegal.com covers the full firm and every practice area, including the criminal defense practice in the courts where our attorneys are admitted: New York, New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania. On the immigration side the firm practices nationwide.
Go to usherlegal.com →
immigrationtrial.comImmigrationtrial.com is our deportation defense practice: removal proceedings, relief before the judge, appeals and motions to reopen.
Go to immigrationtrial.com →
asylumadvocate.comAsylumadvocate.com is our asylum practice: asylum, withholding and CAT, affirmative, defensive and detained.
Go to asylumadvocate.com →
icebail.comIcebail.com handles ICE detention, bond hearings and federal habeas.
Go to icebail.com →
visa4love.comVisa4love.com handles family and marriage-based immigration.
Go to visa4love.com →
Tell us about the charge before you take the plea. Not after.
You get a free conversation with an immigration attorney, in your language. We speak English, Russian, Spanish and Uzbek in-house, and we bring in a live interpreter for anything else. We will read the charge against the immigration statute, tell you what the offered plea does to your status and to every form of relief, and tell you what to ask your criminal lawyer to negotiate instead. If the plea has already been entered, we will tell you what can still be done.