The First Circuit has determined that the Board of Immigration Appeals “abused its discretion in this case because it failed to follow its own precedents, persuasive circuit law, and DHS policies” when it denied a timely motion to reopen filed by an individual placed on the U visa waitlist and granted deferred action. Because the petitioner had asked for reopening and remand to seek a continuance before the Immigration Judge, the Court determined that the standard in Matter of Sanchez Sosa was the appropriate standard to apply. “The Board itself has also found that a U visa waitlist determination warranted reopening and remand, using the Sanchez Sosa standard, in at least two unpublished decisions.”
The full text of Granados Benetiz v. Wilkinson can be found here: