by Matthew Hoppock | Oct 12, 2021 | Immigration |
For the last four years, we’ve been using the Freedom of Information Act to request records describing the policies and procedures that govern the processing of appeals and motions to reopen at the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Immigration Courts. One...
by Matthew Hoppock | Aug 6, 2015 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals, Visa Waiver |
Yesterday, the BIA issued a new precedent decision in Matter of D-M-C-P-, addressing two unrelated questions: (1) when an IJ can deem an asylum application “abandoned” for failure to get biometrics timely processed; and (2) whether the BIA or IJ have...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jul 24, 2015 | Cancellation of Removal, Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
The BIA issued a decision today that broadly expands the eligibility for cancellation of removal when ICE issues more than one charging document. The case, Matter of Oraz, raises the question of when someone has been present for “ten years” to make them...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jul 20, 2015 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
It is amazing that something as simple as the BIA’s zip code could cause so much hassle and confusion. Last winter when the BIA changed its zip code, it caused many to fret about whether their packages would be delivered on time. This was because the new zip...
by Matthew Hoppock | Nov 15, 2012 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
It is strange that the Board does not get more scrutiny for its reliance on Temporary Board Members. Temporary Board Members are allowed by 8 CFR 1003.1(a)(4), but the regulation requires that such members be “immigration judges, retired Board members, retired...
by Matthew Hoppock | Nov 13, 2012 | Immigration, Uncategorized |
If anyone doesn’t already think the “Particularly Serious Crime” doctrine is a muddled, unconstitutionally vague, morass, there’s more proof in the decision issued by the BIA today. As we wrote in December the statute does not define...
by Matthew Hoppock | Nov 5, 2012 | Immigration, Uncategorized |
If the DHS believes someone should be deported, they usually issue a “Notice to Appear,” which is filed with the Immigration Court. The Immigration Court then schedules a hearing (sometimes 6 months or more later) where an Immigration Judge can...
by Matthew Hoppock | Nov 1, 2012 | Immigration, Uncategorized |
Today the Office of Inspector General released a troubling report on the efficiency of the Immigration Courts and the BIA. While I disagree with the focus of the report, which ultimately seems to be that “continuances” are bad, there is some...
by Matthew Hoppock | Oct 31, 2012 | Immigration, Uncategorized |
Today, an article entitled “Hopeless – Often Pointless – Cases Clog Immigration Courts” was published on the “Center for Immigration Studies” website. I won’t link to it, because we don’t have an interest in fueling traffic to...
by Matthew Hoppock | Oct 24, 2012 | Immigration, Uncategorized |
Yesterday the Board published a new precedent decision analyzing whether and when “a single offense involving possession for one’s own use of thirty grams or less of marijuana” can include conduct that involved several offenses. The new...
by Matthew Hoppock | Feb 1, 2012 | Immigration, Uncategorized |
I just had a consultation that exemplifies the stupidity of the Board’s decision in Matter of D-X- and Y-Z-, issued last month. An asylum applicant cannot win asylum if she has been “firmly resettled” in a third country. As the asylum law...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jan 25, 2012 | Immigration, Uncategorized |
A published decision from the BIA yesterday addresses the question of how conviction records are to be authenticated when they are used as the basis for finding an individual removable. Matter of Velasquez, 25 I&N Dec. 680 (BIA 2012). Two...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jan 14, 2012 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
The BIA used to publish and regularly update a document called ““Questions and Answers Regarding Proceedings before the Board.” The BIA practice manual still refers to it as if it still exists, but if you go to the previous web address for it, you get this:...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jan 7, 2012 | Asylum, Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
On the issue of “firm resettlement,” one of the grounds for denying asylum to an otherwise-eligible applicant, the BIA has been less than clear. Basically, if a person comes to the United States to apply for asylum from Country X, but in the interim they...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jan 5, 2012 | BIA Best Practices, Immigration, Uncategorized |
If an Immigration Judge enters an order of removal, and if the noncitizen does not waive the right to appeal, that order can usually be appealed to the BIA. But the appeal must be received by the BIA in 30 days of the Judge’s decision. If it is not received on...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jan 4, 2012 | Uncategorized |
It is difficult to make much sense of the body of law governing “particularly serious crimes.” An immigrant convicted of a particularly serious crime is ineligible for asylum or withholding of removal. This is a big deal. Withholding of...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jan 3, 2012 | Uncategorized |
An editorial in the New York Times today about the Judulang decision inaccurately described the effect of the BIA’s “affirmance without opinion” policy (regularly referred to as AWO) on an immigrant’s chances of filing a federal court...
by Matthew Hoppock | Dec 28, 2011 | Uncategorized |
Sometimes I wonder whether the BIA saves up my transcripts so that it can mail them all to me at the same time. Yesterday, I received four transcripts from the Board, all with briefs due on the same date. Along with a new detained appeal we were hired in...
by Matthew Hoppock | Dec 12, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals, Uncategorized |
We will have a lot more to say in the coming days about this, but the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision in Judulang v. Holder is about as clear a message as the court can send. Anyone who read the oral argument in the case should have seen the writing on the...
by Matthew Hoppock | Dec 12, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
In a published decision on December 6, the BIA held that an immigrant who adjusts her status to permanent residence under the Cuban Adjustment Act has been “admitted” to the United States. Matter of Javier Jesus ESPINOSA GUILLOT, 25 I&N Dec. 653 (BIA 2011). That...
by Matthew Hoppock | Dec 12, 2011 | Cancellation of Removal, Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals, Removal Defense |
The BIA has issued a new decision on the “stop-time” rule, which affects an immigrant’s ability to show continuous physical presence. But the Board’s decision seems to be a poor attempt to defend the agency’s practice of not complying...
by Matthew Hoppock | Nov 21, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
On Friday, the BIA published a decision in Matter of Islam, 25 I&N Dec. 637 (BIA 2011), a decision which does not break much new ground but is worth discussion for its application of the Chevron deference standard. Summary of Matter of Islam In Matter of Adetiba,...
by Matthew Hoppock | Nov 17, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals, Uncategorized |
A new permanent member of the BIA, Ana Landazabal Mann, has been appointed. Ms. Mann was previously a temporary member, which meant she was not able to vote in determining which cases to hear en banc.
by Matthew Hoppock | Nov 15, 2011 | Circuit Court Appeals, Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
I have written a lot about litigating BIA appeals, but what about when the appeal is over? Of course our hope is that the BIA granted the appeal. But if the BIA dismissed the appeal, after the initial shock, there are serious, time-sensitive decisions that need to be...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jun 8, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
In an unpublished decision in May, 2011, the BIA held that fleeing a peace officer is not an offense relating to obstruction of justice. This is a helpful decision, because it appears to be a departure from previous BIA analysis about fleeing. The Board held in Matter...
by Matthew Hoppock | May 18, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
Former BIA member, Juan Osuna, was appointed last year to the role of Acting Director of the EOIR. Today, his position was made permanent. This is good news for those in favor of immigration reform. Mr. Osuna has been with the Department for over a decade, but he has...
by Matthew Hoppock | May 9, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
We received an excellent win from the Board this morning on an appeal where the Immigration Judge had concluded our client was not eligible to apply for immigration relief, because he had two convictions for the possession of marijuana. The issue in the appeal is...
by Matthew Hoppock | May 4, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals, Uncategorized |
We have been complaining about remands for competency hearings without any guidance on how competency is supposed to be determined. Apparently, the BIA heard our complaints, because the precedent opinion issued today finally addresses this question. Sadly,...
by Matthew Hoppock | May 3, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals, Uncategorized |
The Board issued a precedent decision on Friday April 29th in the case of Matter of Cubor-Cruz, which affirmed the Eighth and Fifth Circuits and rejected the Ninth Circuit’s position. The question was whether a child who was given a written notice of his...
by Matthew Hoppock | May 3, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals, Uncategorized |
At least two recent unpublished BIA decisions have remanded because of a pending motion for post-conviction relief. That would be a major departure from the Board’s standard practice of not remanding for prospective relief. We hope this is more than an errant...
by Matthew Hoppock | May 2, 2011 | BIA Best Practices, Immigration |
If you can’t afford to file an appeal with the BIA, you should ask for a fee waiver. The fee waiver is on form EOIR-26A. The practice manual says the form can be filed on tan-colored paper, but white paper is just fine. The form requires you to swear under...
by Matthew Hoppock | Mar 17, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration ArticlesBIA Appeals |
[Update – September 7, 2015] This post was written in March, 2011, when all of the temporary Board members were women. As of today, there are four temporary members, and only 3 of those four are women. Apparently Brian M. O’Leary was appointed as a...
by Matthew Hoppock | Mar 15, 2011 | Immigration, Immigration Judge Complaints |
I was recently reading the annual EOIR statistics related to complaints made against Immigratoin Judges. The Office of Chief Immigration Judge has been publishing statistics regarding Immigration Judge complaints every year for the last few years. [Update September...
