Deportation - Board of Immigration Appeals - BIA - removal - convention against torture - CAT - Immigration - detention - reopen - reconsider - INS - DHS



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	CASES ARCHIVES Follow these links to find cases of note in Deportation Defense which were decided in the previous years, or scroll down to find cases decided within the last few months. OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2006 DECEMBER / JANUARY 2006/2007 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2007 APRIL / MAY 2007 JUNE / JULY 2007 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2007 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2007 DECEMBER 2007 / JANUARY 2008 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2008 APRIL / MAY 2008 JUNE / JULY 2008 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2008 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2008 JANUARY - JUNE 2009 CASES DECIDED IN FEDERAL COURT IN JANUARY - JUNE 2009 June 08, 2009 - June 12, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, June 10, 2009 Pangemanan v. Holder , No. 08-1381 Petition for review of a denial of plaintiff's claim for withholding of removal is denied where substantial evidence supports the conclusion that plaintiff did not meet her burden of demonstrating a clear probability of future persecution in her country of removal. Read more... U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, June 11, 2009 Issiaka v. Atttorney Gen. of the US, No. 07-2691 Petitions for review of a decision ordering removal and denying plaintiff's applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture is granted and remanded where the adverse credibility determination has no basis and is not supported by the record. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 11, 2009 Wu v. Holder, No. 08-60073 In a petition for review of the BIA's decision to deny Petitioner a continuance pending adjudication of his wife's visa petition, the petition is granted where an Immigration Judge abuses their discretion by denying a motion to continue solely based on concerns of timing when a nonfrivolous prima facie approvable I-130 petition is pending. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 08, 2009 Wu v. Holder , No. 08-3479 Petition for review of an order holding plaintiff statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal is denied where plaintiff's exclusion proceedings were instituted before the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act was effective, and neither of the Act's exceptions to its prospective application apply. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 08, 2009 Romero v. Holder, No. 05-71029 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order removing him from the U.S. is granted, where the BIA erred by finding Petitioner statutorily barred from showing good moral character on the basis of a guilty plea which was later expunged. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 09, 2009 Nadarajah v. Holder, No. 05-56759 In Petitioner's motion for attorney's fees in an appeal in which the Court of Appeals ordered that Petitioner's habeas petition be granted, the motion is granted, where Petitioner's counsel possessed distinctive knowledge and specialized skill in immigration law, and thus enhanced rates were proper. Read more... June 01, 2009 - June 05, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, June 01, 2009 Burbiene v. Holder, No. 08-1478 Petition for review of a decision denying plaintiff's application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture is denied where substantial evidence supports the Board of Immigration Appeals' conclusion that plaintiff failed to establish that she had a well-founded fear of persecution required for asylum, as the facts do not establish a nexus between the defendant's fear of harm and the government of Lithuania. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, June 04, 2009 Da Silva Neves v. Holder, No. 07-1091 Petitions for review of the denial by the Board of Immigration Appeals of plaintiff's second motion to reopen is denied where the Board properly rejected plaintiff's argument that the time and number limits should be equitably tolled so he could seek adjustment of status under the Immigration and Nationality Act sec. 245(i) as plaintiff failed to show that he exercised due diligence in seeking reopening and thus the equitable tolling doctrine is unavailable. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, June 04, 2009 Touch v. Holder, No. 08-1217 Petition for review of a decision denying plaintiffs' applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture is denied where: 1) substantial evidence supports the Board of Immigration Appeals' determination that plaintiff did not suffer past persecution, and the record does not record does not establish a well founded fear of being persecuted upon returning to Cambodia; 2) the standard of proof required for asylum is less stringent than that required for withholding of removal, and since plaintiff is unable to prove eligibility for asylum, she will be unable to prove eligibility for withholding of removal; and 3) plaintiff's Convention Against Torture claim is waived. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, June 04, 2009 Gutierrez-Castillo v. Holder , No. 08-1537 Petition for review of a motion to reopen is denied where plaintiff's application for adjustment of status and Immigration and Nationality Act former sec. 212(h) waiver of inadmissibility upon approval of his immediate relative visa petition was barred by the retroactive application of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, as Congress expressly provided that the Act's pertinent provisions applied retroactively, and the Board did the not err in denying plaintiff's request for nunc pro tunc relief. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, June 04, 2009 Oliveira v. Holder , No. 08-2494 Petition for review of an order denying plaintiff's motion to reopen for adjustment of status is denied where the Board of Immigration Appeals found that no immigration visa was immediately available to plaintiff and thus plaintiff could not establish prima facie eligibility for adjustment of status. Read more... U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, June 02, 2009 Guzman v. Holder , No. 08-2544 Petition for review of Board of Immigration Appeals' cancellation of removal and finding of removeability is granted where the Board violated 8 C.F.R. sec 1003.1(d)(3)(iv) by engaging in impermissible factfinding as it relied on facts that were contested by the parties and expressly not found by the IJ. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 29, 2009 Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder, No. 07-61006 Petition for review of the BIA's denial of application for cancellation of removal is denied where Petitioner was ineligible for cancellation because he had a prior state conviction for drug possession that could have been punished as a felony under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 02, 2009 Wang v. Holder, No. 07-61008 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's denial of her asylum application is affirmed, where the Immigration Judge's credibility determination was supported by substantial evidence because he identified various contradictions and questions regarding Petitioner's documentation. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 02, 2009 US v. Velez-Alderete, No. 08-20557 Sentence for illegal reentry into the U.S. is affirmed, where Defendant's prior state conviction for arson was a "crime of violence" under the Immigration and Nationality Act, because an arson does not need to pose a threat of harm to a person to fall into that category. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 03, 2009 Cinapian v. Holder, No. 05-72445 Petitioners' petition for review of the denial of their application for withholding of removal is granted, where the government failed to make the author of an adverse forensic evaluation of Petitioners' documents available for cross-examination or to disclose the existence of the report to Petitioners until the day of their hearing. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 03, 2009 Morales-Garcia v. Holder, No. 07-70400 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's denial of his application for withholding of removal is granted, where the BIA erred in holding that Petitioner's conviction under Cal. Penal Code section 273.5(a) for corporal injury was categorically a crime involving moral turpitude. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, June 05, 2009 Torres-Chavez v. Holder, No. 05-72226 In a petition for review of the BIA's order removing Petitioner from the U.S., the petition is denied where Petitioner's Due Process rights were not violated by his lawyer's performance, because a lawyer in counsel's position could have reasonably made the tactical decision to concede his client's alienage. Read more... May 25, 2009 - May 29, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 28, 2009 Peralta v. Holder , No. 08-2073 Petition for review of an order denying plaintiff's second motion to reopen removal proceedings is denied where the court of appeals lacks jurisdiction to review a denial of the motion to reopen when it has been directed to the Board of Immigration Appeals' sua sponte authority. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 27, 2009 US v. Andrade-Aguilar, No. 07-41132 Sentence for illegal reentry into the U.S. is vacated, where the second of Defendant's prior state drug convictions did not qualify as an "aggravated felony" under the Sentencing Guidelines, because the Government did not show that the preceding conviction was final at the time Defendant committed the second offense. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 28, 2009 Gaiskov v. Holder , No. 08-2700 Petition for review of a decision holding that petitioner committed an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act is denied where the Board of Immigration Appeals did not err in concluding that a conviction for sexual misconduct with a minor in violation of Indiana law constitutes sexual abuse of a minor under 8 U.S.C.sec. 1101(a)(43)(A), and defendant is thus removable as an aggravated felon. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 29, 2009 CDI Energy Servs., Inc. v. West River Pumps, Inc., No. 08-1031 In a action alleging breach of loyalty, trade-secret misappropriation, and business interference, district court judgment denying plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction and dissolving the temporary restraining order is affirmed where: 1) the court did not err in finding that plaintiff failed to prove that defendants took trade-secret information or that plaintiff took reasonable steps to protect its trade secrets, and thus there is little justification for granting a preliminary injunction regarding the trade-secret claim; and 2) the court did not err in concluding that while plaintiff had a likelihood of success on its claims for statutory breach-of-loyalty, injunctive relief was not warranted, as the balancing of factors, such as irreparable harm, balance of harms, and the public interest favored defendants. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 27, 2009 Barrios v. Holder, No. 06-74983 Petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) order removing Petitioner from the U.S. is denied where: 1) refusal to join a gang did not make Petitioner a member of a particular social group or constitute a political opinion; and 2) a minor who seeks relief as a derivative under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act must personally satisfy the Act's requirement of seven years of continuous physical presence. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 27, 2009 Robleto-Pastora v. Holder, No. 07-71492 Petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' order removing Petitioner from the U.S. is denied where Petitioner's prior grant of asylum was insufficient to establish a presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution based on past persecution. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 27, 2009 Escobar v. Holder, No. 07-72843 Petition for review of the denial of petitioner's application for cancellation of removal is granted where a parent's status as an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence may be imputed to an unemancipated minor residing with that parent for purposes of satisfying the five-year permanent residence requirement for cancellation of removal. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 27, 2009 US v. Mendoza-Zaragoza, No. 08-30130 Defendant's sentence of 72 months for reentering the U.S. following removal is affirmed, where an indictment charging the illegal reentry of a previously removed alien may support an increased maximum sentence even if it alleges the date of the prior removal without specifying the relative date of the prior conviction. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 28, 2009 US v. Medina-Villa, No. 07-50396 Sentence for illegal reentry into the U.S. is affirmed, where Defendant's prior conviction under Cal. Pen. Code section 288(a) constituted "sexual abuse of a minor," qualifying it as a "crime of violence" that warranted a sixteen-level increase under U.S.S.G. section 2L1.2. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 28, 2009 US v. Lomeli-Mences, No. 07-50452 Sentence for illegal reentry into the U.S. is affirmed where: 1) Defendant's prior convictions for false imprisonment and false personation were not "related" for purposes of calculating his criminal history score; and 2) the District Court did not err in assessing criminal history points for those two offenses. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 27, 2009 Yu v. US Attorney Gen., No. 08-16068 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order removing him from the U.S. is denied, where 8 U.S.C. section 1101(a)(42)(B) does not confer automatic refugee status on the spouses of persons forced to undergo an abortion or sterilization in their native country. Read more... May 18, 2009 - May 22, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 19, 2009 Santana v. Holder , No. 07-2024 Petition for review of an order denying plaintiffs' applications for adjustment of status is denied where: 1) substantial evidence supports the Board of Immigration Appeals' determination that plaintiffs did not meet the requirements for grandfathering under the Immigration and Nationality Act and were thus ineligible for adjustment of status; and 2) the refusal to consider a letter plaintiffs submitted in support of their grandfathering argument did not constitute a due process violation. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 20, 2009 Taing v. Napolitano , No. 08-1179 District court judgment for plaintiff is affirmed where plaintiff qualifies as an immediate relative spouse of a U.S. citizen under the plain language of 8 U.S.C. sec. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i) despite her husband's death, and since the statute's meaning is unambiguous, the second step of the Chevron framework does not need to be reached. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 20, 2009 Vargas v. Holder , No. 08-1274 Petition for review of an order denying plaintiff's motion to reopen his cancellation of removal proceedings in light of new material facts is denied where 1) the Board of Immigration Appeals did not abuse its discretion in refusing to grant the motion; and 2) the Board's refusal to remand plaintiff's case did not violate his due process rights as he had no expectation of receiving some measure of relief. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 20, 2009 Ibrahimi v. Holder , No. 08-1587 Petition for review of the decision denying him a waiver of the spousal joint-filing requirement for the removal of the conditions on his permanent resident status is denied where: 1) the Board of Immigration Appeals properly placed the burden on plaintiff to show he entered his marriage in good faith; 2) the present court has jurisdiction to review the decision to deny the waiver on the basis that plaintiff failed to establish a good-faith marriage as eligibility for discretionary relief is a question of law or the application of law to facts; 3) the Board did not err in concluding that plaintiff was ineligible for a good-faith-marriage waiver as he did not meet the legal standard of what constitutes a good-faith marriage; and 4) the present court does not have jurisdiction to consider plaintiff's due process claim, as plaintiff did not have a liberty interest in obtaining discretionary relief from removal and thus had no due-process right. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 19, 2009 Castro de Mercado v. Mukasey, No. 06-70361 In a petition for review of the BIA's order removing Petitioner from the U.S., the petition is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, where Petitioner challenged the BIA's evidentiary determinations and matters within the BIA's discretion, and those were outside the scope of the Court of Appeals' review. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 20, 2009 US v. Heron-Salinas, No. 08-50276 The denial of Defendant's motion to dismiss his indictment for reentering the U.S. following removal is affirmed, where assault with a firearm under Cal. Penal Code section 245 is categorically a "crime of violence" and an "aggravated felony" for immigration purposes. Read more... May 11, 2009 - May 15, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 14, 2009 Gomes v. Holder , No. 08-1898 Petition for review of a denial of application for withholding of removal is denied where the evidence failed to demonstrate that the purported persecution based on plaintiff's membership in a particular social group was a direct result of the Brazilian government's action or inaction. Read more... U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 12, 2009 Midi v. Holder, No. 08-1367 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order removing her from the U.S. is denied, where: 1) the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) does not apply to immigrants seeking relief pursuant to the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act; and 2) the BIA's construction of the CSPA did not violate the Equal Protection Clause. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 14, 2009 Singh v. Holder, No. 08-20065 In an action challenging the rejection of Plaintiff's application for naturalization, summary judgment for Defendant is affirmed where: 1) Plaintiff could not collaterally attack his prior state conviction in the naturalization proceeding; and 2) the date of Plaintiff's conviction of that offense was the date on which he was sentenced. Read more... U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 14, 2009 Lin v. Holder, No. 08-3573 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's denial of his asylum application is denied, where 1) Petitioner failed to present corroboration of his Falun Gong practice while in China, and 2) Petitioner failed to administratively exhaust his remaining challenges to the Immigration Judge's order. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 12, 2009 Cubillos v. Holder , No. 08-2007 Petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals vacating the immigration judge's grant of asylum to plaintiff is denied where: 1) the anonymous threats to plaintiff were not sufficiently severe to constitute past persecution on the basis of a protected ground; 2) the anonymous threats were insufficient to establish that plaintiff had well-founded fear of future persecution if he returned to Colombia; 3) the Board did not err in denying plaintiff's application for withholding of removal as he did not prove a clear probability of persecution; and 4) the Board did not exceed its authority when it determined that the record failed to establish persecution. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 12, 2009 Brezilien v. Holder, No. 06-73693 Petitioner's petition for review of the denial of his asylum application is granted, where the BIA improperly: 1) engaged in factfinding in denying the asylum claim; and 2) reversed the Immigration Judge's factual finding that Petitioner suffered persecution because of his political affiliation while in his native Haiti. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 12, 2009 Negrete v. Chertoff, No. 08-15543 The dismissal of Petitioners' habeas petition challenging the BIA's denial of their motion to reopen their removal proceedings is affirmed, where Petitioners' Suspension Clause claim was merely an allegation that the BIA abused its discretion repackaged as a constitutional claim, and thus the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the petition. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 11, 2009 US v. Bautista-Silva, No. 08-13803 In a prosecution for transporting illegal aliens, the grant of Defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained from a traffic stop is reversed, where the border patrol agent's decision to stop Defendant's car was based on specific and articulable facts that, viewed in light of the agent's extensive experience, created a reasonable suspicion. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 12, 2009 Kueviakoe v. USAG, No. 08-11359 In a petition for review of the BIA's denial of Petitioner's application for withholding of removal based on the Convention Against Torture, the petition is granted, where the BIA's adverse credibility determination was not supported by any of the rationales it cited. Read more... U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, May 15, 2009 US v. Ventura, No. 07-3099 Defendant's sentence for reentering the U.S. following removal is vacated, where Defendant's prior state conviction was not a "crime of violence," as the District Court found, but was instead an "aggravated felony," which triggers a less severe Sentencing Guidelines range. Read more... May 04, 2009 - May 08, 2009 U.S. Supreme Court, May 04, 2009 Flores-Figueroa v. US, No. 08-108 Defendant's aggravated identity theft conviction is reversed where 18 U.S.C. section 1028A(a)(1) requires the government to show that a defendant knew that the means of identification at issue belonged to another person. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, May 07, 2009 Tawadrous v. Holder , No. 08-1376 Petition for review of denial of plaintiff's motion to reopen removal proceedings is denied where the Board of Immigration Appeals did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the changed-conditions exception did not warrant reopening and thus rejecting plaintiff's untimely motion. Read more... U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, May 08, 2009 Mendez v. Holder , No. 06-0032 Petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' decision affirming denial of cancellation of removal is granted and remanded where an error of law occurred in the Board's decision, as facts important to the determination of exceptional and extremely unusual hardship were totally overlooked and others were seriously mischaracterized. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 04, 2009 Ayele v. Holder , No. 08-1411 Petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals' denial of plaintiff's application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture is granted and the order vacated and remanded where the immigration judge failed to fully analyze plaintiff's claim that she has an objectively reasonable fear of persecution on account of her familial ties. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 08, 2009 Castilho de Oliveira v. Holder , No. 07-3307 Petition for review of Board of Immigration Appeals' denial of asylum application and withholding of removal is granted and the decision vacated and remanded where: 1) the IJ's adverse credibility determination was unsupported by evidence in the record, as the IJ's stated reasons for disbelieving plaintiff's claims were either speculative or irrelevant, and material favorable evidence was left unaddressed; 2) the IJ's analysis for concluding that plaintiff did not reasonably fear future persecution was not adequately grounded in the record; and 3) the IJ's behavior at trial toward plaintiff and his expert witness show an apparent bias on the part of the IJ, and thus plaintiff was denied a meaningful opportunity to be heard before a neutral IJ as required by statute and regulation. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 04, 2009 Arellano-Hernandez v. US, No. 07-3945 Petition for review of a denial of application for cancellation of removal and denial of motion to remand is denied where: 1) the Board of Immigration Appeals did not abuse its discretion in affirming the immigration judge's determination that the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) cancellation application was untimely and waived; and 2) the Board was not required to rule on merits of VAWA cancellation claim. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 04, 2009 US v. Molina, No. 08-1368 Sentence for illegally reentering the United States after being deported is affirmed where: 1) district court did not err in sentencing defendant without considering the cost of his prison sentence and the amount of dollars that might be saved by imposing a lesser sentence, and without considering that he would be deported after serving his sentence; and 2) the court did not abuse its discretion in imposing a sentence at top of advisory guidelines range. Read more... April 27, 2009 - May 01, 2009 U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 01, 2009 Patel v. Holder, No. 08-1423 Petition for review of a removal order is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction where petitioner's claim that the Board of Immigration Appeals abused its discretion in denying his motions to reopen removal proceedings is outside the present court's jurisdiction. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 28, 2009 Alcala v. Holder, No. 04-70983 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order granting the government's motion to dismiss the removal proceedings against Petitioner is dismissed, where the Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction to review BIA orders other than final orders of removal. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 27, 2009 Peraza v. USAG, No. 08-15782 The denial of Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order of removal is affirmed, where the record did not compel a finding that Petitioner proved a nexus between the harm he feared and persecution based on his membership in a political party. Read more... April 20, 2009 - April 24, 2009 U.S. Supreme Court, April 22, 2009 Nken v. Holder, No. 08-681 The Court of Appeals' denial of Petitioner's motion to stay his removal pending judicial review of a BIA ruling is reversed, where traditional stay factors, not the demanding 8 U.S.C. section 1252(f)(2) standard, govern a Court of Appeals' authority to stay an alien's removal pending judicial review. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 21, 2009 Construction and Design Co. v. US Citizenship and Immigration Serv. , No. 082461p.pdf In an action involving immigration work visas, district court's judgment affirmed where the court properly affirmed the denial of the visa petition as the plaintiff did not meet the Department of Homeland Security requirement that he can afford to pay the alien’s wage. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 23, 2009 Krishnapillai v. Holder , No. 07-2512 Petition for review of an order sustaining the denial of plaintiff's requests for asylum, restriction on removal, and relief under the U.N. Convention Against Torture is denied where: 1) the IJ's adverse credibility determination against plaintiff was reasonable and consistent with the record evidence; 2) plaintiff failed to supply corroboration of the events he testified about and thus presented insufficient evidence to support his claim that he would be persecuted if returned to Sri Lanka; 3) plaintiff failed to offer sufficient evidence that he was entitled to a hearing on the possibility that he would face persecution as a failed asylum seeker; and 4) plaintiff did not establish a pattern or practice of persecution in Sri Lanka based on a protected trait that he shares. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 20, 2009 Hanggi v. Holder , No. 08-1842 Petition for review of an order denying plaintiff's request for a continuance and motion to terminate removal proceedings is denied where: 1) challenge to the denial of continuance is not properly before the court as plaintiff failed to raise the issue before the Board of Immigration Appeals; and 2) it is unclear as to whether the court has the authority to consider whether the immigration judge erred in denying petitioner's motion to terminate removal proceedings, but if it did have the authority, the IJ did not abuse her discretion in denying the request. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 20, 2009 US v. Santacruz, No. 07-55470 In an action by the U.S. seeking to revoke Defendant's naturalization based on his commission of a "crime of moral turpitude" under 8 U.S.C. section 1427, summary judgment for Plaintiff is affirmed, where possession of child pornography constitutes a crime of moral turpitude, even though it does not have a specific intent requirement. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 21, 2009 Sinha v. Holder, No. 04-73843 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order of removal is granted, where the Immigration Judge's finding that Petitioner was not subject to persecution in his native country based on his race was not supported by substantial evidence. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 23, 2009 US v. Mejia-Luna, No. 07-10472 Defendant's illegal alien transportation conviction and sentence are affirmed where: 1) the District Court did not abuse its discretion in allowing a customs agent to testify as an expert about alien smuggling; and 2) the District Court properly instructed the jury on the meaning of "serious bodily injury" under 18 U.S.C. section 1365(h)(3). Read more... U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 21, 2009 Razkane v. Holder, No. 08-9519 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order of removal is granted, where the Immigration Judge (IJ) improperly denied Petitioner's asylum application based on the IJ's own assessment of whether Petitioner appeared homosexual and was thus likely to be persecuted in his native country on that basis. Read more... April 13, 2009 - April 17, 2009 U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, April 14, 2009 Weng v. Holder , No. 06-4791 Petition for review of an order dismissing plaintiff's application for asylum and withholding of removal is granted and the matter remanded where the Board of Immigration Appeals erred in concluding that plaintiff was subject to the persecutor bar for refugee status, as plaintiff's conduct in China was not sufficiently direct, active, or integral to the administering of forced abortions to amount to assistance in persecution. Petition for review is denied as to the ruling that plaintiff is ineligible for relief under the Convention Against Torture. Read more... U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, April 15, 2009 Johnson v. Holder , No. 07-4629 Petition to review of Board of Immigration Appeal's denial of motion to reopen deportation proceedings is denied where the law of the case doctrine requires that the present court's ruling in an earlier action involving plaintiff must be followed, and thus plaintiff's argument that she need not make an individualized showing of reliance is rejected. Read more... U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 16, 2009 Zheng v. Holder, No. 08-1255 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order denying her motion to file a successive asylum application is denied, where: 1) Petitioner was required to file a successive application with the BIA, which denied the previous application, not a new Immigration Judge; and 2) Petitioner was required to move to reopen the prior proceeding. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 13, 2009 Nyari v. Napolitano , No. 08-1406 Denial of application for naturalization on grounds that plaintiff failed to establish that he is a person of good moral character is reversed and remanded where: 1) the district court erred in giving preclusive effect to the Department of Social Services determination and plaintiff's inclusion in the central registry of Virginia's child abuse and neglect information system in finding that plaintiff was not a person of good character; and 2) plaintiff's children's recantations of their earlier charges created a genuine issue of material fact as to whether he abused them. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 14, 2009 Ramirez-Altamirano v. Holder, No. 06-71445 The denial of Petitioner's application for cancellation of removal is reversed, where the BIA erred by finding that Petitioner's prior state drug conviction, which had been set aside, rendered him ineligible for cancellation of removal. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 16, 2009 Ramos-Lopez v. Holder, No. 06-72402 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's denial of his asylum request is denied, where the Court of Appeals deferred to the BIA's determination that young Salvadoran men who have resisted recruitment into a certain gang do not constitute a particular social group, and the refusal to join the gang does not amount to a political opinion. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 17, 2009 Delgado v. Holder, No. 03-74442 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order of removal is granted in part, where Petitioner's DUI offenses did not qualify as "particularly serious crimes," but denied in part, where substantial evidence supported the BIA's determination that Petitioner would not be tortured if returned to El Salvador. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 13, 2009 Chen v. U.S. Atty. Gen., No. 08-10259 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's denial of her motion to file a successive asylum application is denied, where the BIA had previously ordered Petitioner removed and an alien must satisfy the requirements for a motion to reopen in order to file a successive asylum application. Read more... April 06, 2009 - April 10, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, April 06, 2009 Larngar v. Holder , No. 07-2168 Denial of motion to reopen removal proceedings is vacated and remanded where the Board of Immigration Appeals may not have applied a properly framed burden of proof when it concluded that so long as plaintiff originally induced the reason for his fear of harm he cannot establish changed country circumstances, as it does not appear that the rise of plaintiff's victim to a position of authority in Liberia's government was a change that was self-induced; and 2) the Board is ordered to consider whether plaintiff has made out a prima facie case of eligibility for protection under the Convention Against Torture. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, April 09, 2009 US v. González-Castillo , No. 07-2134 Sentence for unlawfully entering the U.S. after being previously deported is reversed and remanded where a clear and obvious error occurred when the court based defendant's sentence on unsupported factual assertions, such that the error affected the defendant's substantial rights and impaired the fairness of defendant's sentence. Read more... U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 08, 2009 Lockhart v. Napolitano, No. 08-3321 In an action seeking adjustment to permanent U.S. resident status, summary judgment for Plaintiff is affirmed, where an alien-spouse, whose citizen-spouse filed the necessary "immediate relative" petition under 8 U.S.C. sections 1187 and 1125(c)(4), but died within two years of the qualifying marriage, qualifies as a spouse under the "immediate relative" provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Read more... U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 08, 2009 Ba v. Holder, No. 08-3478 The BIA's denial of Petitioner's motion to reopen her asylum hearing is reversed, where the Immigration Judge issued a removal order in absentia, but Petitioner was not afforded the opportunity to rebut the presumption that she received the mailed notice of the hearing. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 06, 2009 Al Mutarreb v. Holder, No. 04-75676 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order removing him from the U.S. is granted, where the record contained no evidence relevant to the charge of removability, and thus the order was not supported by substantial evidence. Read more... U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, April 07, 2009 Kiyemba v. Obama, No. 05-5487 The grant of Petitioners' habeas petition requiring notice prior to their transfer from Guantanamo Bay is reversed, where Munaf v. Geren, 128 S. Ct. 2207 (2008), precludes a court from issuing a writ of habeas corpus to prevent a transfer on the ground that Petitioners would likely be tortured upon their return to their native country. Read more... U.S. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, April 07, 2009 Lin v. US, No. 08-5078 In an action by Taiwanese nationals seeking U.S. citizenship, the dismissal of the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is affirmed, where the political questions doctrine precluded the claim because it would require a decision regarding Taiwanese sovereignty. Read more... March 30, 2009 - April 03, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, April 0103, 2030 Castillo-Diaz v. Holder, No. 08-1570 Petition for review of order denying asylum and withholding of removal is denied where substantial evidence supported the IJ ruling that plaintiff failed to prove past persecution and failed to establish a well-founded fear of future persecution. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 30, 2009 Lin v. Holder , No. 08-1789 Petition for review of order denying asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture is denied where the IJ did not err in making an adverse credibility determination against plaintiff regarding her alleged involvement with Falun Gong, and the IJ's denial of plaintiff's applications was supported by substantial evidence. Read more... U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, April 01, 2009 Mahmood v. Holder , No. 07-5656 Petition for review of an order denying motion to reopen removal proceedings is granted where the Board of Immigration Appeals erred in assuming that plaintiff's failure to depart voluntarily on time from the U.S. conclusively barred an adjustment of his immigration status. Case is remanded to the Board to consider whether it would still decline to exercise its sua sponte authority to reopen plaintiff's removal proceedings in view of current relevant law. Read more... U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, April 03, 2009 Sandie v. Holder , No. 07-1865 Petition for review of a decision denying asylum is denied where plaintiff failed to meet his burden of proof with evidence corroborating his testimony that he has a well-founded fear of persecution in his native country on account of a political opinion. Plaintiff's motion to clarify that his motion to stay removal implicitly included a request to stay the 60-day voluntary departure period is denied. Read more... U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 01, 2009 US v. Madrigal-Valdez, No. 07-4681 Defendant's conviction for unlawful entry into a military base is reversed, where the evidence was insufficient to demonstrate that Defendant had notice of the requirements for entry before he drove onto the military base access road, or that the entry by an undocumented alien of a military installation is a crime prohibited by federal law. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 03, 2009 Vasquez-Martinez v. Holder, No. 07-60900 Petitioner's petition of review of the BIA's decision not to cancel his removal is denied, where 1) the burden is on a removable alien to show his eligibility for cancellation; and 2) possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, of which Petitioner was convicted, is an "aggravated felony" under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 03, 2009 Kholyavskiy v. Holder , No. 07-1020 Petition for award of attorney's fees and costs is denied where although plaintiff was the prevailing party in his immigration case, the Government's position in the underlying litigation was substantially justified. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, April 01, 2009 Kaur v. Holder, No. 06-71048 The denial of Petitioner's asylum petition is reversed, where the BIA: 1) relied on classified evidence without giving Petitioner sufficient notice of the parameters of that evidence; and 2) held that Petitioner was less than candid without providing a reasoned adverse credibility finding. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 31, 2009 Ferguson v. USAG, No. 08-10806 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order of removal is denied, where the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act's (IIRIRA) repeal of the Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(c) waiver provision does not have an impermissible retroactive effect on aliens convicted of deportable offenses before IIRIRA's effective date. Read more... March 23, 2009 - March 27, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 24, 2009 Shia v. Holder , No. 08-1842 Petition for review of a denial of the motion to reopen plaintiff's removal proceeding is denied where the Immigration Judge's ruling was not arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion as plaintiff received notice of her removal hearing and failed to appear. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 26, 2009 Dawoud v. Holder , No. 08-1262 Petition for review of a denial of a motion to reopen removal proceedings is denied where the Board of Immigration Appeals did not err in denying plaintiff equitable tolling of the ninety-day period for filing a motion to reopen due to ineffective assistance of counsel as plaintiff did not exercise diligence in the pursuit of his rights. Plaintiff's request for a remand for an adjustment of status based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen is denied where plaintiff did not cite any evidence that was previously unavailable to him. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 27, 2009 Oroh v. Holder , No. 07-2606 Petition for review of an order denying asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture is denied where: 1) inadequate transcription of plaintiff's hearing before the IJ is not prejudicial, as the missing information could reasonably be recreated; 2) plaintiff's asylum application was filed more than ten years after his entry and no exceptions apply to excuse the untimeliness; and 3) withholding of removal was properly denied as plaintiff failed to meet his burden of proving that he would more likely than not face religious persecution upon return to his home country. Read more... U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 26, 2009 US v. Thompson-Riviere, No. 07-4793 Defendant's conviction for reentry into the U.S. following removal is vacated, where Defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea on the ground that newly discovered evidence showed that he was a citizen had merit because he credibly asserted his legal innocence. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 26, 2009 US v. Mondragon-Santiago, No. 07-41099 Defendant's sentence for attempted reentry into the U.S. following removal is affirmed, where the District Court's explanation of the reasons for the sentence was insufficient but did not substantially prejudice Defendant, and there was no showing that the sentence was substantively unreasonable. Read more... U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 24, 2009 Liu v. Holder, No. 07-4359 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's denial of his motion to reopen his removal proceedings is denied, where Petitioner's motion was untimely, because he failed to demonstrate that the evidence he wished to present of changed conditions in his country was unavailable at the prior hearing. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 23, 2009 Mekhtiev v. Holder , No. 08-3074 Board of Immigration Appeals order dismissing plaintiff's appeal of judgment denying asylum is affirmed where substantial evidence supports the Board's decision to deny asylum, as it did not appear plaintiff suffered past persecution or had a well founded fear of future persecution, and plaintiff did not show that any of the problems he faced in his home country were connected to a protected ground for asylum. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 26, 2009 Kim v. Holder , No. 08-2211 Petition for review of a removal order and denial of request to cancel removal proceedings is denied where: 1) the IJ did not err in admitting hearsay evidence as it is admissible at an immigration proceeding if the information is probative and if its admission is fundamentally fair; 2) government's action was not time barred under 8 U.S.C. sec. 1256(a); 3) the IJ did not err in finding plaintiff removable from the U.S. under 8 U.S.C. sec. 1182(a)(6) and (7); and 4) plaintiff did not qualify for cancellation of removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. sec. 1229b(a) as he had not been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 23, 2009 Li v. Holder, No. 05-70053 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's denial of their request for asylum is granted, where the BIA denied Petitioner Chinese citizens' request based on their harboring of North Korean refugees, even though there was no evidence that such conduct violated Chinese law. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 23, 2009 US v. Gutierrez-Sanchez, No. 08-50254 Defendant's sentence for making a false statement to a federal official is affirmed where, in his plea agreement with the government, Defendant admitted to facts that established a more serious offense, namely reentry into the U.S. following removal. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 26, 2009 Sanchez v. Holder, No. 04-75584 In a petition for review of the BIA's refusal to cancel Petitioner's removal, the petition is denied, where the alien smuggling inadmissibility waiver in 8 U.S.C. section 1182(d)(11) does not apply to an application for cancellation of removal. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 26, 2009 Estrada v. Holder, No. 05-75772 The denial of Petitioner's petition for permanent resident status is affirmed, where Petitioner's prior state conviction was expunged, but he was nonetheless ineligible for relief under the Federal First Offender Act because he violated a condition of his probation. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 27, 2009 Mengstu v. Holder, No. 05-71825 Petitioner's petition for review of the denial of her asylum application is granted, where the Immigration Judge's determination that Petitioner was not a refugee was not supported by substantial evidence, because Petitioner offered evidence that she would be persecuted based on her national origin if returned to her country. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 27, 2009 US v. Marguet-Pillado, No. 08-50130 Defendant's conviction for being found in the U.S. following removal is affirmed in part, where Defendant had no biological relationship with the U.S. citizen from which he claimed to derive citizenship, but reversed in part, where Defendant's permanent resident application was improperly admitted as a public record. Read more... March 16, 2009 - March 20, 2009 U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 17, 2009 Lopez v. Holder, No. 05-60797 Denial of Petitioners' petition for review of their removal from the U.S. is vacated, where the magistrate judge who had heard their earlier habeas petition did not have jurisdiction to hear their subsequent petition for review without Petitioners' consent. Read more... U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 17, 2009 Muka v. Baker, No. 07-2459 The denial of Petitioners' habeas petition is affirmed, where the REAL ID Act deprived the District Court of subject matter jurisdiction over habeas petitions regarding orders of removal, and the Act did not violate the Suspension Clause. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 16, 2009 Martinez-Madera v. Holder, No. 06-73157 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order removing him from the U.S. is denied, where an unnaturalized person whose mother married in Mexico a U.S. citizen, and who later moved to the U.S. with his family, is not a citizen of the U.S. Read more... U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 18, 2009 Al-Maleki v. Holder, No. 07-4260 In Plaintiff's action seeking naturalization by the U.S., the District Court's award of attorney's fees to Plaintiff is affirmed, where 1) Plaintiff was the prevailing party and 2) the government's litigation position and the underlying agency action were not substantially justified. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 16, 2009 Rodriguez v. DHS, No. 08-14393 In an action challenging the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) denial of review of Plaintiff's Temporary Protected Status, dismissal of the complaint is reversed where the USCIS's denial of review was a final agency action for which Plaintiff had exhausted all administrative appeals. Read more... March 09, 2009 - March 13, 2009 U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 09, 2009 Narine v. Holder, No. 08-1299 In an appeal from the BIA's denial of Petitioner's motion for reconsideration, the BIA's order is reversed, where Petitioner did not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to appeal his removal in exchange for voluntary departure from the United States. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 09, 2009 Ghani v. Holder , No. 06-3449 Petition for review of denial of cancellation of removal application is denied where the the IJ correctly determined that plaintiff was not eligible to apply for cancellation of removal because his prior conviction for making false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 1001 was a crime involving moral turpitude. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 10, 2009 Wakkary v. Holder, No. 05-71539 The denial of Petitioner's asylum petition is reversed, where the BIA should have considered Petitioner's country-conditions evidence regarding the widespread mistreatment of Chinese and Christians in Indonesia when assessing the likelihood that he would face future persecution. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 10, 2009 US v. Krstic, No. 08-30022 The dismissal of Defendant's indictment for making false statements on immigration forms is reversed, where 8 U.S.C. section 1546(a) does not require proof of an already forged, counterfeited, altered, or falsely made immigration document. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 10, 2009 Singh v. USAG, No. 08-10780 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order removing him from the U.S. is dismissed, where a state's conviction of a minor in adult court is considered a conviction for the purposes of 8 U.S.C. section 1101(a)(48)(A). Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 11, 2009 Keungne v. USAG, No. 07-14501 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order removing him from the U.S. is dismissed, where the Petitioner's removal based on his act of "moral turpitude" was proper because Georgia's reckless conduct statute requires a sufficiently culpable mental state to fall into that category. Read more... March 02, 2009 - March 06, 2009 U.S. Supreme Court, March 03, 2009 Negusie v. Holder, No. 07-499 In an application for asylum, the denial of the application based on Petitioner's persecution of others is reversed, where the Board of Immigrant Appeals misapplied Fedorenko v. US, 449 U.S. 490 (1981), as mandating that whether an alien is compelled to assist in persecution is immaterial for persecutor-bar purposes. The BIA must interpret the statute, free from this mistaken legal premise, in the first instance. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 04, 2009 River Street Donuts LLC v. Napolitano, No. 07-2504 District Court's order affirming an Administrative Appeals Office and Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services' denial of an employment based visa petition is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff waived its claim for remand on the issue of AAO's alleged failure to address material evidence because it failed to properly raise and argue this issue in district court; and 2) the AAO did not abuse its discretion by not adding depreciation to net income when determining plaintiff's capacity to assume the worker's wage as it had a rational reason for its policy that it consistently applied. Read more... U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, March 02, 2009 Hoxha v. Holder , No. 07-2940 Order affirming the denial of plaintiff's application for asylum and withholding of removal is remanded where the Board of Immigration Appeals did not address the issue of whether the Immigration Judge erred by denying the plaintiff's motion for a continuance. Government's argument that plaintiff failed to exhaust the issue is rejected as plaintiff clearly identified the issue in his notice of appeal and did not need to reiterate and address that same issue in an optional brief. Read more... U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, March 04, 2009 Richardson v. US, No. 07-4409 Conviction for illegal re-entry after deportation is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff failed to meet his burden of proving that the written waiver of rights in his prior deportation proceeding was invalid; and 2) plaintiff failed to demonstrate the statutory prerequisites for a collateral attack of his deportation. Read more... U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 04, 2009 US v. Uribe-Rios, No. 07-4803 Defendant's conviction for entering the U.S. after being deported for an aggravated felony is affirmed, where the statute of limitations for the offense had not expired, because federal immigration authorities were not aware that Defendant was in the U.S. at the time Defendant alleged that the statute began to run. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 04, 2009 Omari v. Holder, No. 07-60814 In a petition for review of the BIA's order removing Petitioner from the U.S., the order is affirmed where Petitioner did not present any of the issues raised on appeal before the BIA, and thus the Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. section 1252(d). Read more... U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 04, 2009 Diaz-Zanatta v. Holder, No. 08-3097 In a petition for review of the denial of Petitioner's asylum petition, the petition is granted, where the Immigration Judge failed to make the necessary findings of fact to support the determination that Petitioner assisted or otherwise participated in the persecution of others. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 03, 2009 Obi v. Holder , No. 08-1260 Petition for review of a removal order is denied where the Immigration Judge did not err in applying an Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act provision that disqualifies plaintiff from cancellation of removal due to his pre-Act visa-fraud conviction, as the Act may be applied retroactively. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 05, 2009 Khilan v. Holder , No. 08-1002 Petition for review of decision denying application for asylum and withholding of removal is denied where plaintiff failed to establish that he was entitled to asylum based on persecution by Islamic extremists in the Kashmir region as the evidence showed the government was not unable or unwilling to control his abductors, was actively combating the insurgents, and had not approved or acquiesced in any actions directed against plaintiff. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 05, 2009 US v. Elzahabi, No. 08-1755 Conviction for immigration fraud is upheld where: 1) defendant was not in custody during the interview session and did not need a Miranda warning as the agents repeatedly advised defendant he was free to leave, never physically restrained him, and never placed him in handcuffs; 2) failure to Mirandize him before the original interview did not taint subsequent interrogations; and 3) evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for knowingly possessing and using a fraudulently obtained immigration document. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 06, 2009 Banat v. Holder , No. 08-1298 Petition for review of denial of asylum is affirmed and decision vacated where plaintiff's due process rights were violated when the Immigration Judge based his adverse credibility determination on a investigation report from the State Department that provided no details that would allow the IJ to assess the investigation's reliability or trustworthiness and contained multiple levels of hearsay. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 03, 2009 Martinez v. Holder, No. 04-72975 Denial of Petitioner's asylum petition is affirmed, where the BIA's adverse credibility determinations were supported by substantial evidence given Petitioner's multiple false statements about his alleged persecution. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 03, 2009 Samayoa-Martinez v. Holder, No. 04-74220 Petitioner's petition for review of the BIA's order of removal is denied, where the Immigration Judge did not err in admitting a Form I-213 into evidence, because the BIA did not violate its own regulations in obtaining the form. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 04, 2009 Marmolejo-Campos v. Holder, No. 04-76644 In a petition for review of a BIA decision ordering Petitioner removed from the U.S., the petition is denied where Petitioner's state aggravated DUI conviction constituted a "crime of moral turpitude" under 8 U.S.C. section 1227(a)(2)(A)(i). Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, March 05, 2009 Avila v. USAG, No. 08-11095 Petitioner's petition for review of a DHS decision to reinstate an order removing Petitioner from the U.S. is denied, where the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction to review the reinstatement order, but Petitioner failed to exhaust his administrative remedies in response to the original order of removal. Read more... February 23, 2009 - February 27, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 25, 2009 Mejia-Rodriguez v. Holder , No. 08-1442 Petition for review of final order of removal is denied where the plaintiff's equal protection rights were not violated and the petty offense exception to removability did not apply. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 25, 2009 Nadal-Ginard v. Holder , No. 08-1550 Petition for review of denial of motion to terminate removal proceedings and decision to pretermit application for a waiver of inadmissibility under former INA section 212(c) is denied where: 1) the BIA made no error of law when it concluded that plaintiff was a lawful permanent resident with prior convictions and thus upon re-entry to the country was properly treated as an arriving alien bearing the burden of proving admissibility; and 2) the equities in the case are not compelling enough to upset the BIA's finding that plaintiff did not demonstrate a proper basis for seeking a nunc pro tunc application for relief under INA section 212(c) to the date of his first post-conviction admission to the U.S. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 25, 2009 Scatambuli v. Holder , No. 08-1584 Petition for review of denial of Brazilian citizens application for asylum and withholding of removal is denied where there was substantial evidence to show plaintiff's lacked the social visibility to claim persecution on account of membership in a particular social group. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 25, 2009 US v. Perez-Cruz, No. 08-1834 In a motion for reduction of sentence based on statutory sentencing guideline amendments, district court's denial is affirmed where even with the application of amendments there is no real chance the plaintiff's sentence might be lowered. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 26, 2009 Ordonez-Garcia v. Holder , No. 08-1250 Petition for review of denial of motion to reopen removal proceeding is denied as it the motion not filed within 90 days of a final order of removal. Read more... U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, February 26, 2009 Garcia-Padron v. Holder , No. 08-1862 Petition for review of an order denying plaintiff a waiver of inadmissibility under former section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act is granted where section 309(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act preserves plaintiff's eligibility for relief under former section 212(c) of the INA because plaintiff's deportation proceedings commenced prior to the effective date of IIRIRA. The judgment is vacated and remanded for further proceedings. Read more... U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, February 24, 2009 Ndayshimiye v. Atty. Gen. of the United States , No. 07-3201 Petition for review of rejection of Rwandan citizens' asylum application is denied where plaintiff's failed to show their past persecution was motivated by their imputed nationality or social group, and there was substantial evidence to show their Burundian background was at most incidental to other reasons for their persecution. Read more... U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 27, 2009 US v. Ali, No. 07-6446 In a prosecution for the Defendant's false statement on a naturalization application that he never committed bigamy, the denial of Defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment is affirmed where Defendant participated in a marriage ceremony while already married to another. Read more... U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 27, 2009 Khalili v. Holder, No. 08-3296 Petition for review of an order of removal is affirmed, where Petitioner claimed he might be killed by his wife's family but presented insufficient evidence to show that the Jordanian government would be unable to protect him if he returned to Jordan. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 23, 2009 Soto-Olarte v. Holder, No. 06-71822 In a petition for review of an order of removal based on an adverse credibility determination, the order is remanded where the Immigration Judge failed to consider Petitioner's explanation for discrepancies in his testimony. Read more... February 16, 2009 - February 20, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 19, 2009 Uruci v. Holder , No. 07-2501 Petition for review of denial of Albanian citizens' asylum application is denied where substantial evidence supports the IJ's and BIA's determination that plaintiff's well-founded fear of future persecution was rebutted by a fundamental change in Albanian country conditions. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 20, 2009 Uruci v. Holder , No. 07-2044 Petition for review of denial of Albanian citizens' asylum application is denied where substantial evidence supports the IJ's and BIA's determination that plaintiff's well-founded fear of future persecution was rebutted by a fundamental change in Albanian country conditions. Read more... U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, February 19, 2009 Lin-Zheng v. Attorney Gen. of the US, No. 07-2135 Upon en banc review, the circuit court finds that section 601(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) clearly and unambiguously states congressional intent to limit "refugee" status to one who is actually subjected to the coercive family planning procedure, and overrules its precedent to the contrary, which deferred to the BIA's "spousal eligibility" rule. Read more... U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, February 20, 2009 Ponta-Garcia v. Att'y Gen. of the US, No. 07-2551 Petition for review of reinstatement of removal order is granted and the reinstatement determination is vacated and remanded where plaintiff contested the bases for the reinstatement order and offered support for his claims. ICE must then consider the evidence and attempt to verify the claim. The regulation governing the reinstatement of orders of removal is upheld as a valid construction of 8 U.S.C. section 1231(a)(5) and is not found to violate due process. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 18, 2009 Gomez-Palacios v. Holder, No. 07-60938 Petition for review of a denial of petitioner's motion to reopen proceedings and to rescind the order of removal that was entered in absentia is denied where there was substantial evidence to support the BIA's finding that petitioner did not receive notice of his hearing because he failed to comply with his obligation to provide the immigration court with current address information. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 17, 2009 US v. Ramirez-Carcamo, No. 08-30298 Conviction for illegal reentry after removal is affirmed where a removal order entered in absentia after an alien departed the country before a removal proceeding has the same effect for prosecutions as would a departure after the issuance of the removal order. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 20, 2009 Kadia v. Holder , No. 07-3604 Petition for review of the denial of a citizen of Cameroon's asylum application is granted and the denial vacated and remanded for clarification where the BIA's order denying the petition is unsupported by reasoned analysis, as it: 1) fails to provide any explanation for concluding that plaintiff failed to establish persecution on account of a protected ground; and 2) declines to address the immigration judge's adverse credibility finding. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 20, 2009 Ogbolumani v. Napolitano, No. 08-2143 In an appeal of a denial of a visa petition, the District Court's grant of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services motion for summary judgment is affirmed where: 1) the denial of the visa petition did not violate the Administrative Procedure Act as it was supported by substantial evidence and a reasonable mind could therefore find adequate support for it; and 2) the denial was not arbitrary and capricious and did not violate their rights under the Due Process Clause as there were no egregious administrative irregularities. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 18, 2009 US v. Guzman, No. 08-14077 District Court's imposition of a special condition of Defendant's supervised release is affirmed. The requirement that Defendant report his address was reasonably related to the factors in 18 U.S.C. section 3553(a). Read more... February 09, 2009 - February 13, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 11, 2009 Rivas-Mira v. Holder, No. 08-1604 El Salvadorian native's petition for review of a decision ordering his removal and denying him asylum and related relief is denied where the inconsistencies at issue, collectively, viewed in light of the totality of the circumstances, constituted substantial evidence sufficient to support the IJ's adverse credibility finding. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 12, 2009 De Acosta v. Holder, No. 07-1155 Brazilian native's petition for review of a denial of her application for adjustment of status is denied where: 1) an IJ properly found her inadmissible based on a statutory provision requiring that an applicant have a visa immediately available; and 2) additionally, the IJ's alternative ruling denying her adjustment of status based on the "priority date" rather than the dates she offered was supported by substantial evidence. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, February 12, 2009 Ratnasingam v. Holder, No. 08-1242, 08-1531 Sri Lankan citizen's petitions for review of BIA orders denying him relief from removal based on his alleged persecution as an ethnic Tamil by the majority Sinhalese ethnic group, as well as a denial of his motion to reopen based on a claim that conditions in Sri Lanka had worsened for Tamils, are denied where: 1) petitioner failed to demonstrate past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution based on an enumerated ground; 2) record did not compel a conclusion that it was more likely than not that petitioner would be tortured if returned; and 3) there was no abuse of discretion in denying the motion to reopen. Read more... U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 11, 2009 Quinteros-Mendoza v. Holder , No. 071544 Petition to review decision denying petitioner asylum and withholding of removal to El Salvador is denied where: 1) the Government erred in its contention that the court lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA's refusal to refer a case to a three-member panel; 2) the BIA's subsequent precedential decision eliminated the need for such three-judge review; 3) the BIA's decision accorded with its subsequent precedential decision; and 4) the record lent adequate support for the finding of the Immigration Judge and the BIA that neither religion nor political opinion initiated, escalated, perpetuated, or otherwise constituted a central reason for the persecution against petitioner. Read more... U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 12, 2009 Koussan v. Holder, No. 07-4107 Petition for review of a denial of a request for a waiver of inadmissibility is denied over petitioner's contentions that: 1) the denial of the waiver under the repealed section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act was an unconstitutional denial of equal protection and due process; 2) the denial was based upon the erroneous conclusion that applicable statutes did not contain a ground of exclusion that was comparable to the ground on which the petitioner’s order of removal was based; and 3) the BIA erred by designating only a single member to hear the administrative appeal. Read more... U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 12, 2009 Duad v. Holder, No. 073566 Petition to review decision denying suspension of deportation, is denied where court had no jurisdiction to review the Board of Immigration Appeal's conclusion that petitioner had not shown the kind of extreme hardship necessary to earn suspension of deportation. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 09, 2009 Ntangsi v. Holder, No. 08-1321 Petition for review of a denial of an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture is denied where: 1) factual findings were amply supported in the record, and the IJ provided specific, cogent reasons for an adverse credibility finding; 2) the BIA did not err by requiring petitioner to corroborate her claims; 3) petitioner did not meet her burden of establishing either past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution; 4) petitioner failed to establish she suffered past torture or that she would be targeted for torture in any way upon return. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 10, 2009 Clemente-Giron v. Holder, No. 07-3895 Petition for review of a denial of an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture is denied where an adverse credibility finding was supported by numerous material inconsistencies and the IJ was entitled to require corroborating evidence. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 09, 2009 Sun v. Holder, No. 06-74450 Petition for review of the BIA's denials of a motion to reopen removal proceedings and a motion for reconsideration after petitioner's successful application to qualify for an adjustment of status under the Violence Against Women Act is granted where: 1) regardless of the BIA's holding that petitioner fell short of the strict requirements for establishing ineffective assistance of counsel, petitioner acted diligently in retaining new counsel and is entitled to the benefit of the equitable tolling doctrine; and 2) the BIA should have granted petitioner's motion to reconsider since she clearly pointed out the factual error underlying the BIA's denial of her motion to reopen. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 10, 2009 Sinha v. Holder, No. 04-73843 Petition for review of a removal order is granted where the harm petitioner suffered was on account of his race, thus the matter is remanded to make a finding regarding the government's inability to control the persecution and the severity of the persecution. Read more... U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 10, 2009 US v. Navarette-Medina, No. 08-2014 A sentence for unauthorized re-entry into the U.S. as a previously deported alien is affirmed where defendant did not rebut the presumption of reasonableness attached to his properly calculated guidelines sentence, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in: 1) declining to vary downward from the sentencing guidelines based on defendant's health-based motivation for re-entry, specifically that he needed medications for his HIV condition; 2) treating the offense as a serious one; and 3) in imposing the within-guideline term of imprisonment it did. Read more... U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 10, 2009 US v. Yanez-Rodriguez, No. 08-2100 A conviction and sentence pursuant to a guilty plea to reentering the U.S. after previous deportation is affirmed over claims that: 1) the government breached its plea agreement to recommend that a sentence at the lower end of the sentencing guidelines range was appropriate; 2) the guideline range was incorrectly calculated; and 3) an upward variance was substantively unreasonable. Read more... February 02, 2009 - February 06, 2009 U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, February 06, 2009 Hoodho v. Holder , No. 073432 Petition for review of decision affirming removal order entered after counsel for petitioner conceded removability before an Immigration Judge (IJ) is denied where: 1) an IJ is authorized to accept a concession of removability where it is not plainly contradicted by the record evidence; 2) acceptance by an IJ of a plausible concession of removability cannot constitute "egregious circumstances" that would free a represented party from the concessions of his attorney; and 3) petitioner was bound by his attorney's concession of removability. Read more... U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 05, 2009 Arguelles-Olivares v. Mukasey, No. 05-60914 Petition for review of a removal order is denied where: 1) a conviction under 26 U.S.C. section 7206(1) for filing a false tax return constitutes an aggravated felony for purposes of 8 U.S.C. section 1101(a)(43)(M) if that offense involved a loss of $10,000 or more; 2) there was clear and convincing evidence that petitioner's prior conviction involved an amount of loss greater than $10,000; and 3) there was proof that the amount of loss exceeded $10,000 in a single tax year. (Revised opinion) Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 04, 2009 Ramirez-Altamirano v. Mukasey, No. 06-71445 Petition for review of the denial of an application for cancellation of removal is granted where the IJ and BIA erred in treating a prior state conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia that had been set aside under state law as an absolute bar to relief. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, February 03, 2009 US v. Farias-Gonzalez, No. 0810508 In motion to suppress evidence obtained in an unconstitutional search and seizure pursuant to a criminal prosecution for illegally reentering the country after deportation, partial denial of criminal-defendant's motion to suppress evidence is affirmed where: 1) under the cost-benefit balancing test used by the Supreme Court in Hudson v. Michigan, identity-related evidence is not suppressible when offered in a criminal prosecution only to prove who the defendant is; and 2) the fingerprints, photographs, and alien file of defendant were not suppressible in this case. Read more... January 26, 2009 - January 30, 2009 U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, January 30, 2009 Mendis v. Filip, No. 075768 In an immigration matter, petition to review decision ordering removal of petitioner to the U.K. under 8 U.S.C. section 1231(b)(2)is granted where the Board of Immigration Appeals' decision did not permit adequate appellate review because it did not sufficiently explain why it designated the U.K. as the a country of removal, since petitioner was in the U.K. for only a few hours during a stopover en route to the U.S. and had no legal right to live or travel there. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 26, 2009 Habchy v. Filip, No. 07-3428 Denial of a petition to reopen an asylum case is vacated and remanded to the BIA to consider petitioner's evidence of changed country conditions as it relates to his claim of future persecution based on his political opinion, whether real or imputed, and, whether, in light of his particular circumstance, his evidence establishes a material change in country conditions such that reopening in warranted. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 27, 2009 Dukuly v. Filip, No. 07-3873 Petition for review of a denial of an adjustment of status is denied for lack of jurisdiction where the petitioner could not show fundamental unfairness or procedural irregularities that prejudiced his case. Read more... U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 28, 2009 Manani v. Filip, No. 08-1530 Petition for review of a denial of an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture is denied where: 1) the court does not have jurisdiction over the denial of asylum; 2) petitioner failed to raise a past persecution claim before the BIA; 3) the IJ gave an adequate explanation for her adverse credibility determination; 4) substantial evidence supports the BIA's denial of petitioner's application for withholding of removal; and 5) the BIA conducted a sufficient review of petitioner's claim for relief under the CAT. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 27, 2009 Anaya-Ortiz v. Mukasey, No. 03-74666 Petition for review of a dismissal of an appeal of an order of removal is denied over petitioner's arguments that he is not removable as an aggravated felon and that the BIA improperly determined that he had been convicted of a "particularly serious crime" based on his testimony at his removal hearing. Read more... U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 28, 2009 Lin v. U.S. Attorney Gen., No. 0614404 In court's withdrawal of its previous opinion dated 4 December 2008, petition to review denial of petitioner's claims for asylum and withholding under the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) and relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT) is denied where: 1) outside of the "other resistance" clause of INA 8 U.S.C. section 1101(a)(42), unmarried partners like petitioner do not automatically qualify for protection under the forced abortion and sterilization provisions of the INA; and 2) the evidence did not compel a finding that petitioner suffered past persecution or had a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of his political opinion or any other protected ground. Read more... January 19, 2009 - January 23, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, January 21, 2009 Rashad v. Mukasey, No. 081588 Petition to review decision denying asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) to petitioner-native of Pakistan is denied where: 1) the court lacked jurisdiction to review petitioner's asylum petition; and 2) the evidence and testimony offered by petitioner was insufficient to compel a reasonable factfinder to conclude that more likely than not petitioner would be tortured or persecuted if he were to return to Pakistan. Read more... U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, January 21, 2009 Singh v. Mukasey, No. 043454 In an immigration matter, petition to review decision ordering petitioner's removal from the U.S. is granted and the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) decision is vacated where: 1) the BIA requires clear and convincing evidence to make a deportation determination; 2) in making this deportation determination, the IJ relied on unsupported credibility determinations and on petitioner's unreliable statement; and 3) the government failed to demonstrate by the requisite level of proof that petitioner violated 8 U.S.C. section 1182(a)(6)(E)(i). Read more... U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, January 21, 2009 Roman v. Mukasey, No. 075629 In an immigration case, review of decision ordering petitioner's removal to the Dominican Republic is denied over claim of error that the Immigration Judge (IJ) was prohibited, as a matter of law, from relying entirely on admissions made by petitioner to establish his removability based on a prior conviction. Read more... U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, January 22, 2009 Lin v. Mukasey, No. 056035 Petition to review decision denying asylum and withholding of removal is granted and the matter remanded where: 1) there were errors in the Board of Immigration Appeals' (BIA) order finding that petitioner failed to show a likelihood that he would be sterilized forcibly upon his return to China for having more than one U.S.-born child; and 2) the court could not predict with confidence that the BIA would have reached the same result on remand absent the errors. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 20, 2009 Minasyan v. Mukasey, No. 06-73192 Petition for review of a denial of asylum is granted where the year within which an alien seeking asylum must file an application begins the day after the alien arrives in the U.S., thus petitioner's application was timely. Read more... January 12, 2009 - January 16, 2009 U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, January 12, 2009 Liu v. Mukasey , No. 08-1350 In an immigration and asylum case, the Board of Immigration Appeals' denial of a motion for reconsideration is affirmed where: 1) the party seeking reconsideration has the burden of establishing that it is warranted; 2) the moving party must specify a particular error of law or fact in that earlier decision; and 3) petitioner simply regurgitated contentions that were previously made and rejected. Read more... U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, January 12, 2009 Ravix v. Mukasey, No. 081128 In an immigration case involving claims of asylum and claims of Convention Against Torture violations, petition for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals is denied where: 1) petitioners' alleged incidents of past harassment did not rise to the level of persecution which would make them eligible for asylum; 2) ineligible for asylum, petitioners could not meet the higher standard for withholding from removal; and 3) petitioners' CAT claim included no evidence of threat of torture. Read more... U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, January 12, 2009 Ruiz v. Mukasey, No. 07-5727 Government's motion to dismiss a petition for review of a BIA decision dismissing petitioners' appeal of a denial of an I-130 petition is denied and the case is instead transferred to an appropriate district court where, even though the circuit court had previously determined that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the petition, the interest of justice was better served by transfer of the case. Read more... U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, January 13, 2009 Zheng v. Mukasey, No. 07-1073 Petition for review of a BIA decision affirming an order denying Chinese native's applications for asylum and related relief is granted, and the BIA decision vacated, where the IJ committed errors both as to the timeliness of petitioner's application for asylum and in finding that petitioner had not testified credibly in support of his claims. Read more... U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 12, 2009 Mosere v. Mukasey, No. 08-1241 Sierra Leone native's petition for review of BIA decision denying her motion to reopen as untimely and declining to exercise its power to reopen sua sponte is denied in part and dismissed in part where: 1) petitioner filed her petition more than eleven years after entry of the order granting her voluntary departure, and thus the BIA did not abuse its discretion in finding the motion to reopen untimely; and 2) the circuit court lacks jurisdiction to review the BIA's refusal to reopen a case sua sponte since there are no meaningful standards by which to evaluate the BIA's decision not to exercise its power to reopen under 8 C.F.R. section 1003.2(a). Read more... U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 16, 2009 Zhao v. Mukasey, No. 07-4117 Petition for review of a denial of an application for withholding of removal is denied where the IJ's determination that the petitioner was not credible was supported by reasonable, substantial and probative evidence in the record, and there was nothing in the record that would compel a contrary conclusion. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 12, 2009 Mendez-Castro v. Mukasey, No. 06-70362 Petition for review of a denial of petitioners' application for cancellation of removal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction where: 1) the IJ applied the correct legal standard in the case, rendering the petitioners' claims so insubstantial and frivolous as to preclude the court's jurisdiction; and 2) the court does not have jurisdiction to review an IJ's application of a subjective standard to the facts of a case. Read more... U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 16, 2009 Donchev v. Mukasey, No. 05-74709 Petition for review of a denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture is denied where there was no evidence of past persecution and petitioner was not a member of a particular social group. Read more... January 05, 2009 - January 09, 2009 U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, January 09, 2009 Diaz-Covarrubias v. Mukasey, No. 06-70447 Petition for review of the BIA's refusal to "administratively close" petitioner's case is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction where there is no sufficiently meaningful standard against which to judge the BIA's refusal to administratively close petitioner's case. Read more...

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