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.
Read Diop v. Holder, No. 08-3378
Appellate Information
Submitted: February 13, 2009
Filed: November 9, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Wollman
In a petition for review of the BIA's order denying petitioner a waiver of the spousal joint-filing requirement for removal of the conditions on his permanent resident status, the petition is denied where: 1) petitioner produced virtually no documentation in support of his claim of a bona fide marriage; and 2) the Immigration Judge's discussion of extreme hardship was brief, but her reasoning was sufficiently clear and supported by the evidence.
Read Yohannes v. Holder, No. 08-3519
Appellate Information
Submitted: September 22, 2009
Filed: November 5, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Wollman
In a petition for review of the BIA's order denying petitioners asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture, the petition is denied where: 1) State Department country reports can support a factual finding of changed conditions to rebut a presumption of a well-founded fear of future persecution; and 2) the record evidence did not compel a reversal of the IJ's decision to deny asylum.
Read Gitimu v. Holder, No. 08-3304
Appellate Information
Submitted: June 9, 2009
Filed: September 22, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Hansen
Petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming a denial of a Guatemalan petitioner's application for asylum and related relief is granted in part and denied in part where: 1) substitution of the IJ who conducted the earlier proceedings because he was unavailable under the regulations covering assignment did not violate section 240.1(b), and petitioner's due process rights were not violated as he does not have due process right to a particular judge; 2) petitioner's speculative argument did not warrant a grant of asylum nunc pro tunc: 3) review is granted as to petitioner's other serious harm humanitarian asylum claim under 8 C.F.R. 1208.13(b)(1)(iii)(B) because the BIA improperly characterized the claim, and its explanation was so vague that the court cannot be sure as to the reason for the denial: and 4) the court lacks jurisdiction to review discretionary denial of motion for continuance and denial of motion for administrative closure.
Read Hernandez v. Holder, No. 08-2455
Appellate Information
Submitted: March 10, 2009
Filed: September 1, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Shepherd, Circuit Judge
In an action seeking an order compelling officials of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to approve a spousal immigrant visa petition, and to set aside the agency's revocation of a previously approved immigrant worker visa petition, dismissal of Egyptian petitioner's action is affirmed where the court correctly concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to review revocation of petitioner's I-140 immigrant worker visa, as the Secretary of Homeland Security has the discretion to revoke the approval of the petition and is not subject to judicial review under 8 U.S.C. section 1155.
Read Abdelwahab v. Frazier, No. 08-1078
Appellate Information
Submitted: May 14, 2009
Filed: August 26, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Loken, Circuit Judge
Petition for review of a denial of Chinese national's application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture is affirmed where: 1) IJ and BIA correctly determined that petitioner's conviction qualified as an aggravated felony because loss to the victims exceeded $10,000 and he was thus removable as an aggravated felon and statutorily ineligible for asylum; and 2) the IJ and BIA applied the correct legal standard in determining that petitioner's conviction qualifies as a particularly serious crime.
Read Tian v. Holder, No. 08-3391
Appellate Information
Submitted: June 10, 2008
Filed: August 19, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Gruender
Former ICE informant and drug cartel infiltrator's petition for review of an order denying deferred removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) is granted where: 1) the court adopts the Board of Immigration Appeals' interpretation of "acting in an official capacity" under 8 C.F.R. sec. 1208 as the equivalent of "under color of law;" 2) the Board too narrowly construed this standard and erred in applying the standard to the facts as the Board's conclusion that Mexican police would not be acting in official capacity was based on improper fact finding and an improper statement of the IJ's factual findings regarding the likelihood of plaintiff's arrest and whether he had immunity from prosecution in Mexico; and 3) in analyzing plaintiff's claim that he was entitled to relief under the CAT, the Board inappropriately limited its analysis to whether law-enforcement officials would acquiesce in their official capacities to the Juarez drug cartel's actions against plaintiff.
Read Ramirez-Peyro v. Holder, No. 08-2657
Appellate Information
Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Submitted: March 10, 2009
Filed: August 4, 2009
Judges
Before MURPHY, MELLOY, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.
Opinion by MELLOY, Circuit Judge.
Petition for review of an order of removal is granted and the matter remanded where: 1) plaintiff is not precluded from relief under INA sec. 212(c) by the Supreme Court's decision in St. Cyr; 2) the matter must be remanded to the Board of Immigration Appeals because it failed to consider whether plaintiff was eligible for nunc pro tunc INA sec. 212(c) relief under the In re L- line of cases; 3) retroactively applying the amended definition of aggravated felony to his pre-IIRIRA conviction for sexual abuse of a minor did not violate the due process right to fair notice and repose; and 4) the present court lacks jurisdiction to consider plaintiff's claim that the BIA erred in denying his request for withholding of removal because that decision is discretionary.
Read Lovan v. Holder, No. 08-2177
Appellate Information
Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Submitted: February 11, 2009
Filed: July 31, 2009
Judges
Before LOKEN, Chief Judge, MELLOY and BENTON, Circuit Judges.
Opinion by LOKEN, Chief Judge.
Petition for review of a decision denying Guatemalan native's application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture is denied where: 1) the IJ did not err in finding that the gang which plaintiff claimed was persecuting her had not attributed an anti-gang political opinion to her, and that she failed to show that the threats she received were on account of an imputed political opinion; and 2) plaintiff failed to show she qualified for relief under the Convention Against Torture as she did not show that it was more likely than not that she would be tortured if she were removed to Guatemala and that the government condoned or acquiesced in the gang members' threats.
Read Marroquin-Ochoma v. Holder, No. 08-2760
Appellate Information
Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Submitted: March 10, 2009
Filed: July 28, 2009
Judges
Before MURPHY, MELLOY, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.
Opinion by MELLOY, Circuit Judge.
Petition for review of a decision denying asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture is denied where: 1) plaintiff failed to show the harm she suffered in 1997 was on account of her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion ground; 2) while a 1984 attack against plaintiff constituted past persecution, plaintiff failed to show she had a well-founded fear of future persecution as a result of changed circumstances; 3) plaintiff failed to show she was entitled to humanitarian relief based on the severity of the past persecution that she suffered; and 4) plaintiff did not show she was denied due process or that her administrative appeal was fundamentally unfair.
Read Mambwe v. Holder, No. 08-1224
Appellate Information
Petition for Review from the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Submitted: February 11, 2009
Filed: July 16, 2009
Judges
Before BYE, JOHN R. GIBSON and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.
Opinion by GRUENDER, Circuit Judge.
