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

Where a man challenged a determination by the Board of Immigration Appeals that his wife had previously entered into a sham marriage, there was substantial evidence to support the finding, including an admission from her former “husband” and discrepancies about ...

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

Where a former member of the Guatemalan military credibly testified that he suffered persecution because of a political opinion imputed to him based on his opposition to the military’s inhuman conduct and his threats to report them to human rights ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Roger L. Gregory

Although section 205 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or INA, does not use the word “discretion,” its language unambiguously confers discretion on the Secretary of Homeland Security to revoke an immigration petition. As such, judicial review of the plaintiff’s ...

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

Where the record was “ambiguous” and “inconclusive” on whether a woman’s life would be threatened if she returned to Honduras, because she suffered past persecution due to her membership in particular social groups she qualified for withholding of removal. However, ...

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

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, erred when it required a permanent custody order before it would allow an immigrant to qualify for special juvenile status because that requirement is not found in the statute. Background In late 2013, at ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge Robert B. King