Justia Immigration Law Opinion Summaries

Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision finding him ineligible for cancellation of removal for failure to demonstrate good moral character. Petitioner challenged the constitutionality of 8 U.S.C. 1101(f)(7) on the ground that it violated the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause. Petitioner argued that section 1101(f)(7) presumed an individual to lack good moral character based solely on the length of time served in prison, rather than on the nature of the underlying criminal conduct. Given the wide variation in sentences imposed by different States for the same conduct, petitioner argued that section 1101(f)(7) allowed disparate treatment of similarly situated individuals. The court rejected petitioner's challenge, concluding that there were plausible reasons for Congress' action. Congress could rationally conclude that the expense and other difficulties of individual determinations justified the inherent imprecision of a prophylactic rule. The court also rejected petitioner's contention that section 1101(f)(7) violated equal protection principles because it relied on the period of incarceration generated by state sentencing regimes that were not uniform in operation. Accordingly, the court denied the petition. View "Romero-Ochoa v. Holder Jr." on Justia Law

Petitioner, a native of China, petitioned for review of the BIA's denial, on adverse credibility grounds, of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Petitioner claimed that he had been, and will be, persecuted because of his practice of Da Zang Gong, a teaching of Tibetan Buddhism. The court concluded that substantial evidence supported the IJ's adverse credibility determination and that the inconsistencies noted by the BIA were such that the court was not compelled to accept petitioner's story. Petitioner's inconsistent statements, his failure to explain why he did not seek to enter the United States during his two-year stay in Mexico, and his voluntary return to China from Mexico, provided an adequate basis for the adverse credibility finding. Accordingly, the court denied the petition. View "Cui v. Holder Jr." on Justia Law

Petitioner, who pleaded nolo contendere to assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 364 days in county jail but probation was imposed instead, petitioned for review of the BIA's holding that he was removeable pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(i) for having committed a crime involving moral turpitude for which a sentence of at least one year's imprisonment could have been imposed. The court concluded that its holding in Gonzales v. Barber - that assault with a deadly weapon under California Penal Code section 245(a)(1) is a crime involving moral turpitude - remained good law. Because CPC 17(b) did not apply and because the minute order designated petitioner's conviction as a felony, the court held that petitioner's conviction was a felony. The felony sentencing provisions of section 245(a)(1) allowed for imprisonment for more than one year. Accordingly, petitioner's conviction was a conviction for a "crime for which a sentence of one year or longer may be imposed." Therefore, the court denied the petition. View "Ceron v. Holder Jr." on Justia Law

Plaintiff, a refugee immigrant, sued defendants, seeking a judgment declaring that the USCIS acted unlawfully by withholding adjudication on his application without periodically reviewing it, an injunction ordering USCIS to adjudicate his application within 30 days, and other relief. The district court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment in part, holding that the delay in adjudicating plaintiff's application was neither unlawful nor unreasonable as a matter of law. After intervening action by the Secretary, USCIS approved plaintiff's application for adjustment to permanent resident status. Because the case is now moot, the court dismissed the appeal, vacated the judgment of the district court, and remanded the case with instructions to dismiss the complaint. View "Ayyoubi v. Holder, Jr., et al" on Justia Law

For more than two years, members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), an organization that violently opposes the existence of Israel, tried to recruit Jabr to join their group. Jabr resisted because he is a member of Fatah, a political party that, according to Jabr, is open to cooperation with Israel. PIJ members harassed him, beat him, and labeled him a traitor to their cause. After surviving a brutal attack in 2006, Jabr fled to the U.S. Within a year of arriving, Jabr sought asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. Jabr claimed that he feared returning to Palestine because the same individuals associated with the PIJ that hurt him before will attack him again. The immigration judge denied his application. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed. The Seventh Circuit granted review, finding that the IJ and BIA overlooked material evidence demonstrating that Jabr suffered past persecution on account of his political opinion. View "Jabr v. Holder" on Justia Law

Defendant pleaded guilty in federal court to an information charging that he was "found in" the United States on or about November 25, 2009, after he had been previously deported. The court joined its sister circuits in holding that U.S.S.G. 4A1.1(d) could be applied to a deportee "found in" the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326, while he was imprisoned. Accordingly, the court affirmed defendant's sentence. View "United States v. Reyes-Ceja" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs challenged certain rules issued by the Department of Labor governing the employment of temporary, non-agricultural foreign workers, asserting that the Department had no authority to issue these rules. The district court agreed and granted plaintiffs a preliminary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the rules during the pendency of the action. The court found that the district court's legal conclusion regarding plaintiffs' likelihood of success on the merits was without error, and its finding of fact supporting its conclusion that none of the other factors militates against the issuance of the preliminary injunction was without clear error. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "Bayou Lawn & Landscape Svcs, et al v. Pineros Y Campesinos Unido, et al" on Justia Law

The defendant pleaded guilty to being in the U.S. illegally after having been removed. The judge sentenced him to 84 months in prison. The statutory maximum prison sentence for illegal reentry is usually 2 years, 8 U.S.C. 1326(a), but removal after conviction for an aggravated felony (defendant had two such convictions) increases the maximum to 20 years. § 1326(b)(2). Defendant’s appellate attorney asked to be allowed to withdraw from the case on the ground that there is no colorable basis for appealing, but also stated that the district court imposed conditions beyond its authority. The Seventh Circuit modified the judgment of the district court to eliminate the post-release terms concerning the use of controlled substances, drug tests, and collection of a DNA sample, and otherwise dismissed the appeal, granting the lawyer’s motion to withdraw. View "United States v. Gutierrez-Ceja" on Justia Law

Zheng, a native of China, arrived in the U.S. in 1991 and applied for asylum, which was denied. The INS charged him with removability in 1998, but Zheng renewed his request for asylum, asserting that his wife (who arrived from China in 1994) would be forcibly sterilized under China’s one-child policy because they had two children. The immigration judge denied his application, relying on Zheng’s lack of credibility, and the BIA affirmed in 2002. Zheng remained in the U.S. and filed three motions to reopen, which were denied as untimely and successive and because Zheng failed to demonstrate changed country conditions as to forced sterilization, 8 U.S.C. 1229a. In 2011, Zheng filed a fourth motion, arguing that he would be persecuted in China because he converted to Christianity in 2010 while in immigration detention. He submitted evidence to show that China’s treatment of Christians had materially worsened since 1999. The BIA rejected the claim. The Seventh Circuit denied appeal. BIA’s conclusory rejection of Zheng’s argument was error, but was harmless, given the highly generalized nature of Zheng’s evidence, which failed to show with any meaningful level of specificity that the persecution against Zheng’s practice of Christianity had materially worsened since 1999. View "Zheng v. Holder" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs sued Robert Silverman and his law firm on behalf of a class of Filipino teachers recruited to work in several school districts in Louisiana. Plaintiffs alleged that Silverman aided and abetted a human trafficking scheme in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), 18 U.S.C. 1589, 1590, 1592, 1594, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. 1961-1968; breached his fiduciary duties to members of the plaintiff class; and committed legal malpractice through his role in procuring H-1B non-immigrant visas for the teachers. Silverman brought this interlocutory appeal from the district court's denial of his special motion to strike plaintiffs' second amended complaint on the ground that plaintiffs' state law claims violated California's anti-SLAPP statute, Cal. Civ. Proc. Code 425.16, and invoked Noerr-Pennington immunity against all of plaintiffs' claims. The court joined its sister circuits and held that the denial of a motion for Noerr-Pennington immunity from liability was not an immediately appealable collateral order. The court further held that it did not have pendent jurisdiction over the Noerr-Pennington issue and did not reach the merits of this issue. View "Tanedo, et al v. East Baton Rouge Parish Sch., et al" on Justia Law