Where the government argued that the proper venue was the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because an asylum applicant was located there when his petition was denied, but the venue statute looks to where the immigration judge, or IJ, ...

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

Where the district court issued a class-wide injunction regarding government procedures to detain aliens pending removal hearings, but the statute expressly precludes “jurisdiction or authority to enjoin or restrain” provisions of the immigration laws on a class-wide basis, that aspect ...

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

Where an immigration judge, or IJ, found that the threat of torture from MS-13, police and vigilante groups in El Salvador was less than 50%, both separately and in the aggregate, an applicant’s bid for protection under the Convention Against ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

Where a majority of the judges voted against rehearing en banc a case involving whether to grant Chevron deference to the Board of Immigration’s recent interpretation of § 1101(a)(43)(S), the motion for rehearing en banc was denied. Background A requested ...

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

Where the attorney general has discretion to waive removal for an alien who is the son of a U.S. citizen, the board erred by concluding that a deceased parent is not a qualifying relative for waiver eligibility. Nothing in the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Toby Heytens

Where a Honduran native’s first application for asylum was denied as untimely, but he then filed a second application after his brother’s murder, the Board of Immigration Appeals or BIA, erred by refusing to reopen the application. The murder constituted ...

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

Where the record showed that an asylum applicant was not targeted because of her membership in a particular social group but because the assailant attacked anyone who aided his former wife, the asylum claim was denied. Background Veronica Toledo-Vasquez petitions ...

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

Where a regulation requires the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, to notify an applicant of the need to provide biometrics, such as photographs and fingerprints; provide the applicant with a biometrics notice; and provide instructions for producing biometrics, the ...

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

Where a native of Ghana reported that he had no children when, in fact, he had three, and this information was material to his efforts to obtain permanent residence in the United States, his citizenship application was denied. Background Petitioner ...

Tagged with: Immigration Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In an issue of first impression, where the government argued that an immigration judge’s decision should be upheld so long as it was based on a “facially legitimate and bona fide reason,” the court joined two circuits in rejecting this ...

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