These summaries are not intended as legal advice. Please contact a licensed attorney to discuss the specifics of your case.
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New Case Law
The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the agency’s refusal to reopen proceedings for a non-citizen who did not correct an erroneous address on the Notice to Appear.
The full text of Rosales-Mendez v. Attorney General can be found here:
https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202213164.pdf
The Ninth Circuit has determined that “but-for causation” is one way - but not the only way - to establish that a protected ground was one central reason for persecution. “Sometimes, a protected ground will be a but-for cause of the harm and play more than a minor role, but it won’t be sufficient on its own to cause the harm. Other times, a protected ground will be sufficient on its own, but it won’t be a but-for cause because there is another unprotected ground that would be sufficient on its own. Under Parussimova, both circumstances meet our ‘one central reason’ standard.” Employing this analysis, the Court concluded that an applicant’s Jehovah’s Witness faith was one central reason for the harm he experienced when gang members threatened to harm him if he did not stop preaching, even while they also extorted money from him.
The full text of Alfaro Manzano v. Garland can be found here:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/06/25/22-704.pdf
On remand from the Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit reversed its precedent, and concluded that a California conviction for dissuading a witness matches the definition of an obstruction of justice aggravated felony. In so doing, the court rejected an argument that the California mens rea is broader than the federal mens rea.
The full text of Cordero-Garcia v. Garland can be found here:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/06/27/19-72779.pdf
The Ninth Circuit has determined that a Nevada conviction for attempted lewdness with a child under the age of 14 is an attempted sexual abuse of a minor aggravated felony. In so doing, the court confirmed that its Medina-Villa definition of sexual abuse (involving abusive contact with a minor) is not irreconcilable with the Supreme Court’s decision in Esquivel-Quintana (addressing when statutory rape crimes qualify as sexual abuse of a minor aggravated felonies).
The full text of Leon Perez v. Garland can be found here:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/06/28/23-204.pdf
The Seventh Circuit has reaffirmed that it lacks jurisdiction to review a discretionary denial of a cancellation of removal application.
The full text of Santiago Lopez v. Garland can be found here:
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 Third Circuit has determined that the 30-day deadline to file a petition for review of a final removal order is a claims processing rule, not a jurisdictional rule. The court also determined that a reinstatement order is not administratively final until a final agency decision is issued on the applicant’s withholding of removal and CAT applications.
The full text of Inestroza-Tosta v. Attorney General can be found here:
The Supreme Court has determined that an Immigration Judge may order removed in absentia a non-citizen who received a Notice to Appear lacking the time and date of his first hearing, if the Immigration Court subsequently mailed a notice of hearing to the individual with that information.
The full text of Campos-Chaves v. Garland can be found here:
The Eleventh Circuit has reaffirmed that it lacks jurisdiction to review the agency’s determination that an asylum application is untimely and does not qualify for an exception to the one-year filing deadline. The court concluded that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Guerero-Lasprilla and Wilkinson did not mandate a contrary conclusion.
The full text of APA v. Attorney General can be found here:
https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202110496.pdf
The Seventh Circuit has determined that federal courts lack jurisdiction to review the delay in adjudication of provisional waivers of unlawful presence (Form I-601A) under the Administrative Procedure Act. The court cited the prohibition in 8 USC 1182(a)(9)(B)(v) on federal court review of any action regarding waivers of unlawful presence.
The full text of Soni v. Jaddou can be found here:
The Board of Immigration Appeals has stated that choice of law is dependent upon venue in Immigration Court proceedings, and therefore, the controlling circuit law is not affected by a change in the administrative control court and will only change upon the granting of a motion to change venue.
The full text of Matter of M-N-I can be found here:
The Eleventh Circuit has determined that a Florida conviction under the 2008 version of the state’s lewd lascivious battery statute is a sexual abuse of a minor aggravated felony. “The least culpable conduct under § 800.04(4) is consensual sexual activity between adolescents who are 12 to 15 years old, with no minimum age required for the perpetrator. The statute therefore sweeps more broadly than the generic federal definition of ‘sexual abuse of a minor,’ which in the statutory rape context before us requires an age difference of at least one year between the perpetrator and the victim.”
The full text of Leger v. Attorney General can be found here:
https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202210971.pdf
The Ninth Circuit has reiterated the requirement that official documents be authenticated in removal proceedings. It suggested that the procedures for authentication of domestic records in 8 C.F.R. 287.6 may be mandatory, but did not ultimately conclude what procedures are required because the petitioner failed to object to the documents on authenticity grounds before the immigration judge.
The full text of Smith v. Garland can be found here:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/06/03/22-954.pdf
The Eighth Circuit has determined that an Iowa conviction for possession or purchase of a visual depiction that shows a person under the age of 18 engaging in a prohibited sexual act or the simulation of a prohibited sexual act is not a sexual abuse of a minor aggravated felony. The Court observed that federal law requires “the employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of a child to engage in” the sexually explicit conduct, while Iowa Code § 728.12(3) does not. The Court remanded the case for further consideration of the petitioner’s argument that the conviction is also not a crime involving moral turpitude because it does not require that the defendant know the person in the image is underage.
The full text of Huynh v. Garland can be found here:
The Second Circuit has determined that a New Jersey conviction for distribution a controlled substance near a school is not an aggravated felony. The Court noted that the New Jersey statute criminalizes dispensing a controlled substance near a school, while the federal school zone prohibition does not. In addition, New Jersey criminalizes conduct on school buses, while the federal statute only criminalizes conduct within 1000 feet of a school’s real property. Third, the general federal distribution statute exempts distribution of a small amount of marijuana for no remuneration, while the New Jersey statute does not. The Court determined the statute was not divisible, and as such, was not an aggravated felony.
The full text of Stankiewicz v. Garland can be found here:
The Board of Immigration Appeals has determined that a petitioner seeking approval of a Form I-130 for an adopted child from a country that is a party to the Hague Convention must submit (1) a written statement from the Central Authority of the child’s country of origin stating that it is aware of the child’s presence in the United States and of the adoption, and that it has determined that the child is not habitually resident in the country of origin; (2) an adoption order or amended adoption order incorporating the language of the statement from the Central Authority; or (3) proof that the Central Authority of the child’s country of origin did not respond to the request for a habitual residence statement, that the Central Authority responded that it would not write a habitual residence statement, or that the United States Department of State has confirmed that the Central Authority does not issue habitual residence statements.
The full text of Matter of Furtado can be found here:
The Ninth Circuit has determined that the statutory bar to reopening or reconsidering a reinstated removal is non-jurisdictional, and therefore, the Board of Immigration Appeals may exercise its jurisdiction to reopen a reinstated removal order.
The full text of Suate-Orellana v. Garland can be found here:
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/05/07/19-72446.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 Sixth Circuit has determined that a Tennessee misdemeanor domestic assault is not a crime of violence because it includes inflict of mental harm.
The full text of Sanchez-Perez v. Garland can be found here:
https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/24a0098p-06.pdf
Following the Seventh Circuit’s lead, the Sixth Circuit has adopted a holistic analysis - rather than a statistics-based one - for determining whether a non-citizen faces a clear probability of torture.
The full text of Saleh v. Garland can be found here:
https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/24a0102p-06.pdf
