Robert C. Divine is the Chairman of the Immigration Group of Baker Donelson, a law firm of over 550 lawyers and public policy advisors with offices in 13 cities from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans.
Mr. Divine served in Washington, D.C. from July 2004 until November 2006 as the first presidentially appointed Chief Counsel of United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), the world's largest immigration services agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). From July 2005 until July 2006, he served as Acting Director and then Acting Deputy Director of USCIS. In early 2004 he served as an expert for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom evaluating the impact on asylum claims from DHS' implementation of expedited removal procedures.
He has practiced immigration law since 1986 and in the last several years has chaired the American Immigration Lawyers Association's "Inter-Agency" Committee and its Liaison Committee to the U.S. Department of State. He has served as an expert witness in U.S. and foreign courts.
His practice includes all aspects of U.S. immigration law, representing large and small international and domestic employers, investors, developers, regional centers, family sponsors, and individual foreign nationals. He has also litigated significant business matters, including class action employment discrimination, contract, commercial, product liability, antitrust, ERISA benefits, business torts (including RICO, misrepresentation, Consumer Protection Act), and immigration-related criminal matters.
