CA2 "Weapons Bar" Remand: Kakar v. USCIS

Kakar v. USCIS

"Over twenty years ago, an Immigration Judge granted Mohamed Qaseem Kakar, an Afghan national, asylum in the United States. When Kakar later applied for lawful permanent residence, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied his application because it found that he had engaged in terrorist activity that rendered him inadmissible. Kakar challenged USCIS’s denial as arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). On review, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York affirmed the denial under the “weapons bar” of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)(iii)(V). The question on appeal is whether USCIS, in denying Kakar’s application, adequately explained the unlawfulness of Kakar’s acts under United States law, and whether in doing so it considered his claim of duress. Because we are unable to discern USCIS’s full reasoning for denying Kakar’s application or to conclude that the agency considered all factors relevant to its decision, we conclude that its decision was arbitrary and capricious under the APA. We therefore VACATE the judgment and REMAND the case to the District Court with instructions to remand to USCIS for further proceedings consistent with this opinion."

[Hats off to Michael Piston!]