DOL, July 26, 2024 "On August 7, 2024, the Department of Labor will host a public webinar to educate stakeholders, program users, and other interested members of the public on the changes to the...
Atud v. Garland (unpub.) "Mathurin A. Atud petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying his motion to reopen removal proceedings based on alleged ineffective...
Shen v. Garland "Peng Shen, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. An Immigration Judge ...
This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 07/25/2024 "On January 17, 2017, DHS published a final rule with new regulatory provisions guiding the use of parole on a case...
Lance Curtright reports: "After the 5th Circuit’s initial decision in Membreno, [ Membreno-Rodriguez v. Garland, 95 F.4th 219 ] my law partner Paul Hunker (a new AILA member!) reached out to...
Russell Abrutyn writes: "[Here are] two BIA decisions for a client of ours that may be of interest to your readers. The first decision is the BIA's decision reopening the Respondent's removal proceedings and the second is the BIA's decision affirming a grant of relief.
The Respondent was ordered removed based upon a finding that his conviction for transporting more than 4 kilograms of cocaine under California Health and Safety Code 11352(a) was an aggravated felony. After his removal, he unlawfully reentered the U.S. and lived here for more than ten years before ICE caught him and sought to reinstate the removal order. The BIA granted a motion to reopen, finding that his conviction was not categorically an aggravated felony. Following the reopening of his removal proceedings, the government dismissed an illegal reentry criminal charge.
On remand, an Immigration Judge granted him cancellation of removal as a permanent resident. ICE appealed. The BIA dismissed ICE's appeal, finding that under the modified categorical approach, ICE did not prove that the Respondent was convicted of an aggravated felony and affirming the discretionary grant of cancellation of removal. Although the California court imposed a sentence enhancement based on the quantity of cocaine, this did not support a conclusion that the offense involved trafficking as opposed to personal use because that inference would be based on the Respondent's purported conduct and not the elements of the offense. After 20 months in custody, the Respondent was released today. The Respondent was represented by Marshal E. Hyman and Russell Abrutyn." [Hats off to Russell and Marshall!]