FindLaw Opinion Summaries - Immigration Law

Ladyha v. Holder

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:00:02 PDT

(U.S. 8th Cir., Administrative Law, Immigration Law) In asylum proceedings involving a native of Belarus, petition for review of the BIA's denial of the asylum application is denied where: 1) petitioner did not demonstrate that the record evidence compelled reversal on the basis of past persecution; and 2) as the BIA reasonably concluded that petitioner did not meet the lesser burden of establishing a basis for asylum, he could not show that withholding was necessary.

Sheriff v. US Atty. Gen.

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:00:02 PDT

(U.S. 3d Cir., Administrative Law, Evidence, Government Law, Immigration Law) Liberian national's petition for review of BIA's denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and other relief is granted and the case remanded to the BIA as it failed to consider many if not most of the atrocities to which petitioner was subjected, such as her testimony that she will be killed if she is returned to Liberia and the documentary evidence in the case.

Kipkemboi v. Holder

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S. 8th Cir., Administrative Law, Immigration Law) Petition for review of the BIA's order denying Kenyan petitioners' application for asylum is denied where: 1) because petitioner did not establish past persecution, she was not entitled to a rebuttable presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution; 2) petitioners pointed to nothing that called into doubt the fundamental fairness of the procedures employed.

Perez v. Holder

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S. 1st Cir., Administrative Law, Evidence, Immigration Law) Guatemalan national's petition for review of the BIA's order denying petitioner's request for withholding of removal is denied as the BIA adequately articulated a reasoned basis for its decision.

United Airlines, Inc. v. Brien

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S. 2d Cir., Administrative Law, Aerospace & Defense, Government Law, Immigration Law, Transportation, Travel & Leisure) In a consolidated appeal from three district court orders in actions by international airline companies challenging the INS's imposition of fines against the airlines for bringing undocumented immigrant and non-immigrant aliens into the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. section 1323, the court of appeals rules as follows. One order is affirmed in part where the INS did not act arbitrarily when it employed its parole power rather than its visa waiver authority to admit aliens into the U.S. However, the order is reversed in part where a Board of Immigration Appeals rule, which exempted airlines from liability for bringing an undocumented alien to the U.S. when the alien received a post-arrival visa waiver, was consistent with the Penalty Statute. Another order is reversed where the INS's Rule 60 motion was procedurally defective because the circumstances were not sufficiently extraordinary to merit such relief. In another matter, summary judgment for the INS is reversed where: 1) the INS's 1996 amendment of its tourist visa waiver regulation was invalid because it was promulgated in violation of the joint action requirement; and 2) the State Department's 1999 version of the tourist visa waiver regulation was invalid because it was promulgated in violation of the joint action requirement and without notice-and-comment.

N-A-M v. Holder

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S. 10th Cir., Administrative Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Immigration Law) In a petition for review of the BIA's order removing petitioner to El Salvador, the petition is denied where: 1) petitioner's prior state offense of felony menacing was a "particularly serious crime" under 8 U.S.C. section 1231; and 2) the Immigration Judge's reliance on a Statement in Support of Warrantless Arrest detailing petitioner's prior offense was not fundamentally unfair.

Shaikh v. Holder

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S. 5th Cir., Administrative Law, Immigration Law) In a petition for review of the BIA's decision affirming an Immigration Judge/s decision denying petitioner's application for withholding of removal, the petition is denied where the BIA's determination that petitioner was not persecuted on account of a protected ground was supported by substantial evidence.

US v. Ye

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S. 7th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Immigration Law) Defendant's conviction for concealing, harboring, or shielding from detection illegal aliens and hiring illegal aliens is affirmed where: 1) the district court's supplemental jury instruction on the meaning of "shielding" was not erroneous; and 2) the evidence was sufficient to prove defendant intended to prevent government authorities from detecting the presence of the illegal aliens.

Sugiarto v. Holder

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 1st Cir., Administrative Law, Government Law, Immigration Law) Indonesian national's petition for review of BIA's denial of her application for asylum is denied where: 1) BIA's finding that petitioner failed to establish the requisite nexus between the obviously traumatic incidents of armed robbery and bomb threats and her status as a Christian was supported by substantial evidence on the record; and 2) BIA's decision denying petitioner's claim for asylum on the basis of well-founded fear of future persecution was supported by substantial evidence.

Bermudez v. Holder

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 9th Cir., Civil Procedure, Criminal Law & Procedure, Immigration Law, Per Curiam) In a petition for review of the BIA's order denying petitioner's request to terminate proceedings and his request for cancellation of removal, the petition is dismissed where petitioner's conviction was one related to a controlled substance under 8 U.S.C. section 1227(a)(2)(B)(i), and thus the circuit court lacked jurisdiction over the petition.

US v. Ambriz-Ambriz

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 9th Cir., Criminal Law & Procedure, Immigration Law) Defendant's conviction for illegal reentry into the U.S. is affirmed where, because defendant had not legally left the U.S. on the date of his detention, and he was not entering the U.S. from a foreign country, the official restraint doctrine was inapplicable.

Diop v. Holder

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 8th Cir., Administrative Law, Immigration Law) In a petition for review of the BIA's denial of petitioner's asylum application, the petition is denied where the evidence that petitioner's daughter would be harmed if she were returned to Senegal was not so compelling that no reasonable fact finder could fail to find the requisite fear of persecution.

Shaya v. Holder

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 6th Cir., Administrative Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Immigration Law) An Iraqi petitioner's request for review of BIA's denial of his application for asylum and related relief is vacated and remanded as the immigration judge never made a finding of fact regarding the length of time that petitioner actually served in prison for his assault conviction, and should he be found to have served less than one year in prison, he should be held not to be an aggravated felon and therefore not removable.

Al-Ghorbani v. Holder

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 20:00:05 PDT

(U.S. 6th Cir., Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Government Law, Immigration Law) Petitioners' request for review of BIA's denial of their application for asylum and related relief from being returned back to Yemen is denied in part and granted in part where: 1) the portion of the petition requesting asylum is denied as the court lacks jurisdiction to review whether the IJ failed to afford the petitioners due process by not excusing the untimeliness of their applications for asylum; 2) petitioners' due process arguments with respect to the IJ's denial of their applications for asylum are without merit; and 3) request for review of the portion of the petition requesting the withholding of removal is granted as the record contains ample evidence that the General will kill the petitioners if they are returned to Yemen and nothing in the record suggests that conditions in Yemen have changed such that the government there will now be able to control the powerful General.

Dong v. Holder

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 20:00:02 PDT

(U.S. 1st Cir., Immigration Law) Chinese citizen's petition for review of BIA's denial of his application for asylum is denied where: 1) petitioner never presented his "other resistance" argument to the BIA; 2) petitioner never argued before the BIA that his flight from China constituted other resistance to a coercive population control program; and 3) BIA did not abuse its discretion in refusing to remand for further factfinding.