Justia Immigration Law Opinion Summaries

Mendoza-Sanchez entered the U.S. at age 18, in 1983, and became a lawful permanent resident. He sold cocaine obtained from members of the violent La Linea cartel, known to work with corrupt Mexican police officers. In 2010 he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. A fellow prisoner who was a member of La Linea attacked him in the prison cafeteria, broke his teeth, and stated that members of the cartel, who had been arrested, believed that he had snitched and that the cartel would have him killed if he returned to Mexico. At his immigration hearing, Mendoza-Sanchez presented evidence that La Linea’s reach is nationwide and that the “law enforcement agencies are infiltrated by the Cartels.” He sought deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. The immigration judge described Mendoza as “a credible witness,” but concluded that he did not establish eligibility for deferral of removal. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed, based on Mendoza-Sanchez’s not having “presented sufficient evidence to establish that … a Mexican public official would acquiesce (or be willfully blind) to such harm.” The Seventh Circuit remanded, stating that a petitioner for deferral of removal under the CAT need not prove that the government is complicit in the misconduct of its police officers. View "Mendoza-Sanchez v. Lynch" on Justia Law

Vivas-Ceja, a citizen of Mexico, was removed from the U.S. on three occasions. In 2013, he was arrested at an airport in Madison, Wisconsin, for illegally reentering the country. He pleaded guilty to illegal reentry after removal, 8 U.S.C. 1326. The maximum sentence for a defendant with a prior conviction for an aggravated felony can be up to 20 years. The definition of “aggravated felony” is supplied by the definition of “crime of violence” in 18 U.S.C. 16(b), which includes “any … offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense.” The district court concluded that Vivas-Ceja’s Wisconsin conviction for fleeing an officer was a crime of violence, and imposed a sentence of 21 months. The Seventh Circuit vacated, finding section 16(b)’s definition of “crime of violence” unconstitutionally vague in light of the 2015 decision, Johnson v. United States. In Johnson the Supreme Court found the “residual clause” of the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(2)(B)(ii), unconstitutionally vague. Section 16(b) is materially indistinguishable from the ACCA’s residual clause. View "United States v. Vivas-Ceja" on Justia Law

Rodriguez-Molinero, a Mexican citizen, has lived in the U.S. for many years as a lawful permanent resident. His involvement in the methamphetamine trade led to his conviction of federal drug crimes and a prison sentence that he has served. He remains in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security, and as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony consisting of trafficking in controlled substances, is subject to removal, 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), 1101(a)(43)(B). He sought CAT deferral of removal on the ground that should he be sent back to Mexico he is highly likely to be tortured by the Zetas Mexican drug cartel. Longmire, his expert witness, stated in a report credited by the immigration judge that in 2012 the Zetas killed 49 people and dumped their bodies on a highway. In 2006, Rodriguez-Molinero was tortured by Mexican police, who burned him with cigarettes, beat him, and stabbed him with an ice pick at the behest of the cartel. He owes the gang about $30,000. Members of the Zetas kidnapped and murdered his great-uncle after asking for information about Rodriguez-Molinero. The Seventh Circuit reversed the immigration judge’s ruling that he had failed to show that he faced a substantial risk of torture were he to be removed to Mexico, or that the Mexican government would acquiesce in the torture. View "Rodriguez-Molinero v. Lynch" on Justia Law

Chinese farmworker Wang married in 1988. His wife gave birth to a daughter. Government officials required his wife to have an intrauterine device implanted. Five years later the IUD “fell off,” and she got pregnant. Officials forced her to abort the pregnancy. In 2000, they had another child, a son. Months later, officials went to their house and threatened to sterilize either Wang or his wife. Wang protested; the officials pushed him to the floor, kicked him, and beat him with batons. They forced his wife to have a contraceptive, “Norplant,” surgically inserted into her arm. His wife became ill and they had no more children. Nine years later Wang entered the U.S. on a business visitor’s visa, procured from a snakehead. More than a year after his entry, he sought asylum and withholding of removal, contending that he had been persecuted for resisting official demands to sterilize him or his wife. An IJ found that Wang did not testify credibly. The Seventh Circuit reversed and remanded the denial of relief; the IJ misunderstood Wang’s testimony about the procedure his wife received and erred by concluding that Wang could not show past persecution because he resisted only his wife’s forced contraceptive implant as opposed to forced abortion or sterilization. View "Wang v. Lynch" on Justia Law