Where a Honduran man argued that he should not be removed from the United States because his status as a “prosecution witness” would result in threats to his life or freedom in Honduras, the claim failed because that social group ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr.

Where a district court directed the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, to adjudicate the plaintiff’s naturalization application within 45 days and retained jurisdiction to hear the case if the agency failed to comply, the plaintiff did not qualify ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

Where the term “relating to obstruction of justice” is ambiguous about whether an ongoing or a reasonably foreseeable proceeding must be obstructed, the court deferred to the reasonable interpretation of the Board of Immigration Appeals, or BIA. Background Jean Francois ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Julius N. Richardson

Where former U.S. Attorney General Sessions opined that immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals, or BIA, lack authority to administratively close cases, but his opinion was at odds with the plain meaning of the regulations and the government ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

Where the immigration judge focused on why a Honduran gang targeted the petitioner’s family, rather than petitioner herself, that was wrong. Because the record showed that the gang leveraged her familial relationship to her husband, as well as their familial ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

Where the resident of El Salvador was only 15 when members of the MS-13 gang beat him and made death threats, the immigration court erred by not taking his age into account when analyzing his past persecution and fear of ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

In a case of first impression, the court joined other circuits in holding that immigration judges have a duty to develop the record in immigration court proceedings, especially in pro se cases. Here, a Salvadoran man’s petition for review of ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge James A. Wynn Jr.

Where Virginia does not extend comity to a foreign divorce if neither spouse was domiciled in the foreign country at the time of the divorce, a Ghanaian divorce was not recognized because neither party was in Ghana at the time. ...

Tagged with: Immigration Judge Liam O'Grady U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the petitioner’s former attorney made materially false representations on an employment certification submitted as part of an immigration application in 2001, it was immaterial that the petitioner signed the form without verifying its contents. He certified the information was ...

Tagged with: Immigration Judge Claude M. Hilton U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An individual who was persecuted in El Salvador because he witnessed his brother’s murder, and reported it to the police, is not eligible for asylum. The record did not show the persecution was because of his family ties. Background Jexte ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Pamela Harris