Justia Immigration Law Opinion Summaries

After petitioner, a lawful permanent resident, was convicted of one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2320(a), USCIS denied petitioner her application for naturalization. USCIS concluded that petitioner had been convicted of an offense involving fraud or deceit with a loss to the victim of over $10,000, an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(M)(i). The court held that a conviction under section 2320 does not necessarily involve fraud or deceit because a defendant can be convicted of trafficking in counterfeit goods for conduct that is merely likely to cause “mistake” or “confusion.” Therefore, petitioner's conviction was not an aggravated felony under section 1101(a)(43)(M)(i). The court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "Lifeng Wang v. Rodriquez" on Justia Law

Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mongolia, seeks review of the BIA's decision to deny his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Petitioner asserts that his whistleblowing activities constituted a political opinion for which he was persecuted with either the consent or acquiescence of government actors. The court adopted the analytical framework of Matter of N–M– for the purpose of identifying whether an applicant has established the required factual nexus between any purported political whistleblowing and actual persecution. Under this framework, the court concluded that substantial evidence supports the Board’s conclusion that petitioner failed to present evidence that his purported persecutors were motivated by his anticorruption beliefs, or that the corruption was even connected to government actors. In this case, petitioner failed to establish that his whistleblowing amounted to political opinion as a protected ground, or that he was persecuted by or at the acquiescence of government officials. In regard to CAT relief, the court agreed with the Board that it was unlikely that petitioner would face torture at the hands of the government if returned to Mongolia. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review. View "Lkhagvasuren v. Lynch" on Justia Law

Petitioner was deported to El Salvador following a misdemeanor firearms conviction. Petitioner subsequently reentered the United States without inspection and then filed a motion to reopen, his second, on the ground that his original lawyer did not properly advise him how to adjust his status after he married a United States citizen. After the Supreme Court announced a change in law that placed in question the legality of the original deportation, petitioner supplemented his motion to reopen. The court concluded that petitioner was not entitled to equitable tolling and denied review as to the adjustment of status issue; the court agreed with every circuit that has squarely addressed the issue, and held that it has authority to review refusals to reopen sua sponte to the limited degree that the refusal was based on legal error; and, because the court concluded that the Board’s decision in this case was based on a legally erroneous premise, the court granted the petition for review, vacated the Board’s denial, and remanded to the Board to exercise its broad discretionary authority as to sua sponte reopening against the correct legal backdrop. View "Bonilla v. Lynch" on Justia Law

Petitioner is a Salvadoran citizen and national who was a former Salvadoran professional soccer player and then government official. The IJ concluded that petitioner was ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal because there were serious reasons for believing he committed serious nonpolitical crimes in both El Salvador and Guatemala; the IJ found petitioner to be non-credible after concluding that his explanation for failing to report his violent interactions with police in his asylum application was highly implausible; the IJ pointed out that petitioner admitted to having lied to the Salvadoran court, and found that petitioner failed to produce relevant evidence corroborating his story about the attacks; and the IJ held that petitioner has not met his burden under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) because he had neither demonstrated he would likely be tortured in either El Salvador or Guatemala. The BIA thereafter dismissed petitioner's appeal and largely adopted the IJ's reasoning. The court concluded that the agency's credibility determination was valid; the Guatemalan charges provide a sufficient basis upon which to conclude that petitioner is ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal; petitioner's law of the case argument is meritless; and, in regard to the CAT claim, the BIA's order commanding petitioner's removal to Nicaragua stands. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review. View "Silva-Pereira v. Lynch" on Justia Law

The plaintiff class and the government entered into a settlement agreement in 1997 which “sets out nationwide policy for the detention, release, and treatment of minors in the custody of the INS.” In 2015, the plaintiff class moved to enforce the Settlement, arguing that it applied to all minors in the custody of immigration authorities. The court concluded that the settlement unambiguously applies both to accompanied and unaccompanied minors, but does not create affirmative release rights for parents. The district court erred in interpreting the Settlement to provide release rights to adults. The court also concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to amend on the record before it. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings. View "Flores v. Lynch" on Justia Law

Rolando Mora-Huerta, a Mexican national, was denied a visa application by a consular officer on the ground that he was a “gang associate” who intended to enter the United States to engage in unlawful conduct. Plaintiff, Mora's wife and a United States citizen, filed suit challenging the consular officer's decision. The court held that, under Marks v. United States, and the court's recent en banc decision in United States v. Davis, Justice Kennedy's concurrence in Kerry v. Din is the controlling opinion. Under the Din concurrence, the facially legitimate and bona fide reason test has two components. First, the consular officer must deny the visa under a valid statute of inadmissibility. Second, the consular officer must cite an admissibility statute that “specifies discrete factual predicates the consular officer must find to exist before denying a visa,”or there must be a fact in the record that “provides at least a facial connection to” the statutory ground of inadmissibility. Applying that opinion to this case, the court concluded that the consular officer gave a facially legitimate reason to denying Mora's visa because he cited a valid statute of inadmissibility and a bona fide factual reason that provided a facial connection to the statutory ground of inadmissibility: the belief that Mora was a gang associate. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's dismissal of the complaint. View "Cardenas v. Lynch" on Justia Law

Yashar signed an “I-864 Affidavit of Support,” in which he agreed to provide his wife Ayla with support. After the couple divorced, Ayla sought support pursuant to the affidavit. Yashar argued that the premarital agreement and divorce judgment terminated his obligations under the affidavit of support. The district court granted summary judgment to Yashar. The court held that, under federal law, neither a divorce judgment nor a premarital agreement may terminate an obligation of support. Therefore, the district court correctly determined that Yashar has a continuing obligation to support Ayla. The court held that when a sponsored immigrant separates from the sponsor’s household, the sponsor’s obligation under the affidavit of support is to provide the immigrant with whatever support is necessary to maintain him or her at an annual income of at least 125% of the poverty guidelines for a one-person household. If the sponsor agreed to support more than one immigrant, and those immigrants separate from the sponsor’s household and continue to live together, then the sponsor must provide them with whatever support is necessary to maintain them at an annual income of at least 125% of the poverty guidelines for a household of a size that includes all the sponsored immigrants. In this case, Yashar has a continuing obligation to provide Ayla with whatever support is necessary to maintain her at an income that is at least 125% of the poverty guidelines for a one-person household. For purposes of determining whether Yashar has fulfilled this obligation, the court must not consider the income of Ayla's son. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded. View "Erler v. Erler" on Justia Law

Petitioner, a Mexican native and citizen, petitioned for review of the government's reinstatement of a removal order issued in 2000. Petitioner received notice of removal in 2009 and, since that time, the government revised its policies regarding the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in immigration proceedings. The court concluded that there is nothing in the facts of petitioner’s case justifying remand to ICE for it to reconsider its decision to reinstate her prior expedited removal order; intervening agency memoranda that do not change the law to be applied by an appellate court do not require remand to the agency; nor was ICE required to explain its reasoning when exercising its prosecutorial discretion to reinstate petitioner's removal order; and ICE was not required to wait until all of petitioner's administrative appeals had concluded before reinstating removal. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review. View "Morales de Soto v. Lynch" on Justia Law

Petitioner seeks review of the BIA's decision affirming the IJ's denial of her motion to reopen. Petitioner's motion to reopen argued that exceptional circumstances prevented petitioner from attending the hearing. The court concluded that, while petitioner's explanation does not reveal great sophistication, planning, or resources, it is not inherently unbelievable or incredible, and therefore the IJ and the BIA erred in disregarding petitioner's explanation. The court held that a car’s mechanical failure does not alone compel granting a motion to reopen based on “exceptional circumstances.” In this case, petitioner's explanation, taken as true, does not constitute exceptional circumstances where petitioner took an unnecessarily long route to court, giving her little margin for error; she did not use the $500 she had to reach the court on time but used it instead to tow her car to a mechanic and prepaid for the repair; and she failed to contact her lawyer or the court to inform them of the problem. The court held that mechanical failure coupled with decisions to leave insufficient time to account for routine delays and to pay for car repairs instead of transportation to court, does not constitute exceptional circumstances. Accordingly, the court denied the petition. View "Garcia Arredondo v. Lynch" on Justia Law

Petitioner, a native of El Salvador, petitioned for review of the BIA's denial of his application for protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Petitioner sought review on May 3, 2013. After another panel of this Court denied petitioner's request for a stay, he was removed to El Salvador on November 19, 2013. The court concluded that, while granting petitioner's petition will not guarantee his return to the United States, it will at least increase his chances of being allowed to do so. Therefore, the court can provide effective relief and his removal to El Salvador does not render the petition moot. The court also concluded that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that it is not more likely than not that petitioner will be tortured in El Salvador. Although gang membership is illegal under Salvadoran law, petitioner did not establish that the government tortures former gang members or those with gang-related tattoos. In addition, Salvadoran law prohibits extrajudicial killings and violence, and there is substantial evidence that the government enforces those laws. With respect to private violence, the court concluded that the BIA’s decision rests on a correct understanding of government “acquiescence” in torture. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review. View "Del Cid Marroquin v. Lynch" on Justia Law