These summaries are not intended as legal advice. Please contact a licensed attorney to discuss the specifics of your case.
Viewing entries tagged
Fourth Circuit
The Fourth Circuit has reversed the Board of Immigration Appeals’ reversal of an Immigration Judge’s grant of protection under the Convention Against Torture. The applicant was shot by gang members and his family members threatened and attacked by gang members. During one of these incidents, the gang members were accompanied by a man in a military uniform.
The full text of Funez-Ortiz v. McHenry can be found here: https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/232290.P.pdf
The Fourth Circuit has confirmed that the Attorney General has an independent statutory authority to appoint (and renew the appointment of) temporary members of the Board of Immigration Appeals. This authority is not affected by the regulation prescribing the authority of the Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review to appoint temporary Board members. Finally, the Fourth Circuit construed that regulation as permitting renewable appointments by the Director.
The full text of Salomon-Guillen v. Garland can be found here: https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/231723.P.pdf
The Fourth Circuit has issued a decision analyzing the competing standards for reopening presented by Matter of L-O-G- (reasonable likelihood of success upon reopening) and Matter of Coelho (new evidence would likely change the outcome). The Court concluded that the Coelho standard only applies in cases in which there are special, adverse considerations, while L-O-G- presents a more generally applicable standard for reopening. The L-O-G- standard, for example, is available when the movant is seeking previously unavailable relief.
The full text of Mouns v. Garland can be found here:
The Fourth Circuit has determined that it has no jurisdiction to review an order from the District Court remanding a delayed naturalization application to the agency. “Simply stating the standard may be enough to explain why it is not met here. The district court’s remand order did not ‘end the litigation on the merits’ of Dubon’s naturalization petition. It did the opposite: It declined to address the merits at all, and instead provided for further adjudication of the merits before the agency. When the district court issued its order, in other words, a determination on the crucial issue in this litigation – Dubon’s eligibility to naturalize – was yet to come. And because that question remained ‘open’ and ‘unfinished,’ the district court’s § 1447(b) remand was not a ‘final decision’ as that term generally is defined under § 1291.”
The full text of Dubon v. Jaddou can be found here: https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/222280.P.pdf
The Fourth Circuit has reviewed the agency’s hardship determination in a cancellation of removal application and remanded the proceedings because it was not clear that the Immigration Judge had considered a treating therapist’s predication that removal of the applicant would increase the likelihood that her daughter would engage in self harm.
The full text of Garcia Cortes v. Garland can be found here: https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/221930.p.pdf
The Fourth Circuit has determined that the forcible institutionalization of a mentally ill man does not compel the granting of asylum when the man’s mental illness caused him to behave in a disruptive and violent manner.
The full text of Joshi v. Garland can be found here:
The Fourth Circuit has affirmed that a Virginia conviction for solicitation of prostitution is a crime involving moral turpitude. The Court rejected the argument that societal attitudes toward prostitution had sufficiently changed such that solicitation of prostitution was no longer base conduct.
The full text of Ortega-Cordova v. Garland can be found here: https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/221700.P.pdf
The Fourth Circuit has determined that a lawful permanent resident who became inadmissible and deportable by virtue of a conviction entered after he obtained his residency is stil eligible to naturalize. The court examined the regulation at 8 CFR § 316.2(b), focusing ont he requirement that a permanent resident be lawfully admitted to the United States during any subsequent reentry. The Court concluded that simply because the applicant was inadmissible due to his conviction at the time of his last entry to the United States, that did not change that he was lawfully admitted as a permanent resident when he reentered the United States, as it was undisputed that he continued to enjoy his permanent resident status at the time of his reentry.
The full text of Azumah v. USCIS can be found here: https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/222175.P.pdf
The Fourth Circuit has remanded a petition for review of a denied cancellation of removal case, in which it determined that the agency failed to adequately address a therapist’s professional opinion that removal of the applicant would increase the likelihood that her daughter would engage in self harm.
The full text of Garcia Cortes v. Garland can be found here:
https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/221930.P.pdf
The Fourth Circuit has determined that a conviction in the District of Columbia for attempted second degree child sexual abuse is a crime of child abuse. The Court declined to find that a conviction must include as an element knowledge of the victim’s age in order to qualify as a crime of child abuse.
The full text of Marquez Cruz v. Garland can be found here:
The Fourth Circuit has determined that federal courts lack jurisdiction under the Administrative Procedure Act to review the denial of an asylee adjustment of status application under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii).
The full text of Shaiban v. Jaddou can be found here:
The Fourth Circuit has affirmed the denial of habeas relief to a non-citizen subject to on-going withholding-only proceedings, finding that his removal was still reasonably foreseeable, despite the length of his detention. The court also found that due process did not require the immigration court to provide him with another bond hearing.
The full text of Vasquez Castaneda v. Garland can be found here:
The Fourth Circuit has determined that Virginia’s sexual battery statute is divisible between non-consensual acts and acts committed against a person restrained by the criminal justice system. The portion of the statute criminalizing non-consensual acts constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude. The court additionally found that a Virginia conviction for solicitation of a minor under age 15 is a crime involving moral turpitude because the statute includes a requirement that the defendant has reason to believe he is soliciting someone under age 15.
The full text of Gomez-Ruotolo v. Garland can be found here:
The Fourth Circuit has determined that an immigration judge may render a mixed credibility determination —deeming an applicant’s testimony credible as to one subject but not another. “In the case of a mixed credibility finding, a presumption of credibility should be applied by the Board on appeal concerning the portion of testimony not explicitly determined incredible.”
The full text of Ayala-Osegueda v. Garland can be found here: https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/221707.P.pdf
The Fourth Circuit has affirmed that an applicant for adjustment of status must prove her admissibility by clear and convincing evidence. Nonetheless, in a footnote, the court recognized that the applicant in this case was the mother of a military servicemember and worked in an important profession, and suggested that the Department of Justice may wish to revisit its position in the case. The applicant had presented significant evidence that someone else had likely checked the “US citizen” box on her I-9.
The full text of NIvar Santana v. Garland can be found here:
The Fourth Circuit has determined that it has no jurisdiction over a petition for review challenging the denial of withholding of removal and protection under the Convention against Torture filed by a non-citizen subject to a reinstated removal order. The court assumed, without deciding, that a reinstatement order is a final order for jurisdictional purposes, but found that the petition for review as filed more than 30 days after the issuance of the reinstatement order.
The full text of Martinez v. Garland can be found here:
The Fourth Circuit has deferred to the Board of Immigration Appeals’ determination that receipt of stolen property offenses constitute crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMT) if the defendant knows the property was stolen, even if the statutes do not require the defendant to intend to permanently deprive the owner of the property. The court further agreed that Virginia’s receipt of stolen property statute matches the definition of a CIMT. The court remanded because the Immigration Judge failed to advise the petitioner of the requirement of posting a voluntary departure bond before granting him voluntary departure.
The full text of Solis-Flores v. Garland can be found here:
Deferring to the agency’s decision in Matter of T-C-A-, the Fourth Circuit has determined that a non-citizen whose asylum status has been terminated cannot apply for adjustment of status as an asylee. “Since Cela’s asylum status had been terminated at the time he sought to adjust to lawful permanent resident status, he was not eligible for that adjustment.”
The full text of Cela v. Garland can be found here:
The Fourth Circuit reversed a reasonable internal relocation finding, noting that an asylum applicant’s ability to live in hiding for 3-4 weeks in Islamabad does not meet the government’s burden to prove that he could safely internally relocate there away from the Taliban.
The full text of Ullah v. Garland can be found here:
https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/221026.P.pdf
The court granted a petition for rehearing and remanded the case for the agency to determine if asylum should be granted as a matter of discretion:
The Fourth Circuit re-affirmed its strong family-based particular social group case law, finding that “young male family members of [the applicant’s] cousin Emily” is a cognizable social group.
The full text of Santos Garcia v. Garland can be found here:
