Managing Partner Michael Wildes and Attorneys Josh Wildes and Caroline Gabela-Monteiro are proud to announce the approval of the P-1A petition filed on behalf of Nigeria’s A5 Under-19 Men’s National Basketball Prep Team.
Adrenale 5, a California-based nonprofit operating as “A5 Athletics” (“A5”), established the team to identify, develop, and promote Nigeria’s most promising young basketball talent through elite training, international competition, and comprehensive athlete development. Formally recognized by the Nigeria Basketball Federation (“NBBF”), Nigeria’s national governing body for basketball and member of the International Basketball Federation (“FIBA”), A5 provides a structured pathway for exceptional Nigerian athletes to advance to collegiate and professional competition.
In a significant milestone, the team has been invited to compete in The Grind Session, an elite international high-school basketball circuit held from November through March in partnership with FIBA. Featuring 16 teams and approximately 400 games, The Grind Session has established itself as a premier platform for emerging basketball talent. Its distinguished alumni include some of the NBA’s biggest stars, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), and Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets). More than 3,000 Grind Session athletes have advanced to the NCAA, NBA, and professional leagues worldwide, demonstrating the caliber of competition and opportunities available to participating athletes. With a proven track record of developing future NBA stars, The Grind Session offers an extraordinary platform for A5’s athletes to showcase their talent on the international stage and pursue the next level of their basketball careers.
The team sent a wonderful video thanking Wildes & Weinberg for their assistance throughout this process. You can watch it by clicking here or visiting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kLHDtgzmWg
Wildes & Weinberg was founded in 1960 by Senior Partner, Leon Wildes. He was best known for his successful representation of former Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono as they fought the Nixon Administration during a five year bitterly contested Deportation Proceeding.
Nearly three quarters of a century later, the firm continues to concentrate its practice in all aspects of U.S. immigration and nationality law, servicing the immigration requirements of prominent American and International firms, banks, industrial, financial, and manufacturing concerns, as well as law firms in connection with the personnel needs of their foreign national employees.
In addition, the firm has a distinguished clientele and has done substantial immigration work for performing artists, directors, writers, models, actors/actresses, athletes, fine artists, art dealers, curators, and literary agents. Most notable was Leon Wildes’ successful representation of former Beatle John Lennon and his artist wife, Yoko Ono in their deportation proceedings, the basis of which has inspired legislation, and has been portrayed in films, plays, and literary works worldwide. Some of the firm’s other distinguished clients include scholar Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (z”l), as well as soccer icons Pele and Karim Benzema, Master Chef Jean-Georges, musicians Joe Cocker, Sinead O’ Connor and Boy George, Gisele Bundchen, Ana Ivanovic, Millie Bobby Brown, as well as First Lady Melania Trump and her family.
Michael Wildes, the firm’s Managing Partner, is also currently serving his fifth term as Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey. He is the author of Safe Haven in America: Battles to Open the Golden Door (which draws on over a quarter of a century of his practice in the immigration field) and From Origin to Opportunity: Unlocking U.S. Immigration Law. Mr. Wildes is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, both In New York City, and serves as Counsel to Lincoln Center. Meanwhile Josh Wildes, a third-generation immigration lawyer who previously worked for the Department of Justice oversees a lot of the firms sports clients.
Despite difficulties currently being encountered in dealing with U.S. immigration authorities, the firm has maintained an extraordinary track record for success in its cases. The firm’s litigation group has expanded its efforts in filing Mandamus Actions and other Actions in Federal Courts throughout the nation.
In addition, Wildes & Weinberg’s multilingual staff is spread throughout its offices in New York City, Englewood, New Jersey, Miami, Florida, and by appointment only in Los Angeles, California and Tel Aviv, Israel, and are known for their experience and special expertise in processing each foreign national’s case with nothing less than the highest level of professionalism.
For more information on our firm or to speak with a Sports Immigration Lawyer please visit www.wildeslaw.com or contact Michael Wildes at michael@wildeslaw.com.