Asylum and Its Discontents in the United States
Board of Immigration Appeals
Human Rights Watch and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP recently filed an amicus brief with the Board of Immigration Appeals in the case of an alien with a mental disability. The brief is based on a year-long, joint investigation by HRW and the American Civil Liberties Union concerning violations of the rights of people with … Read more
In a decision issued last week, the Board of Immigration Appeals held that the “one central reason” standard for asylum also applied to withholding of removal pursuant to INA § 241(b)(3). See Matter of C-T-L-, 25 I&N Dec. 341 (BIA Sept. 14, 2010). Under the REAL ID Act, an alien is eligible for asylum only if … Read more
The Board of Immigration Appeals earlier this week held that an Immigration Judge can make a determination that an asylum application is frivolous even in the absence of a final decision on the merits of that application. See Matter of X-M-C-, 25 I&N Dec. 322 (BIA 2010). The Board also held that withdrawal of the alien’s … Read more
I recently wrote about Chief Immigration Judge O’Leay’s comments at the AILA Conference. Another EOIR official who spoke was David Neal, the Acting Chairman of the BIA. Mr. Neal told us that the Board of Immigration Appeals receives about 3,000 new cases per month. This is slightly down from years past, and Mr. Neal speculates … Read more
So, for the time since I struck out on my own as an attorney, I attended an AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) conference. I had avoided it in the past because it was too expensive (about $800.00 for the conference fee alone) and I didn’t think I would get much out of it. Turns out, … Read more
Here are two recent decisions from the BIA involving mentally ill defendants who faced persecution in their homelands: (1) Professor Muneer Ahmad of the Yale Law School Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic reports that the BIA has reversed a decision by the IJ denying Convention Against Torture relief to a mentally ill Haitian man. … Read more
Biao Yang probably isn’t the first man to tell an exaggerated story about his courage in defense of a woman’s honor. Similarly self-aggrandizing stories have no doubt been told in countless bars and around hundreds of water coolers. Narrative license of this sort usually carries little risk. A drinking buddy or co-worker might express disbelief … Read more
On March 26, 2010, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a published decision in Matter of H-L-H- & Z-Y-Z, 25 I&N Dec. 209, Interim Decision # 3676 (BIA 2010). In that case, the IJ granted asylum to a couple from China who feared persecution / forced sterilization. DHS appealed. The Board sustained the appeal and ordered … Read more
In a published decision, the BIA has reversed an Immigration Judge’s ruling that an application for asylum filed within one year of “changed circumstances” was timely. The IJ granted asylum to a couple from China who feared persecution based on the Chinese government’s coercive family planning policy. The couple filed for asylum within one year of … Read more
AILA reports on two significant asylum cases pending before the BIA: In In re C-T-L, the BIA invited amicus curiae briefing on the question of whether the “one central reason” standard adopted by the REAL ID Act, and indisputably applicable in asylum cases, also applies to withholding of removal cases. Engaging in a comprehensive statutory interpretation … Read more