Immigration Law

Recent Posts

CA7 on CAT, Mexico, Fear of Torture by Zetas: Rivas-Peña v. Sessions
Posted on 23 Aug 2018 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Rivas-Peña v. Sessions - "Pedro Rivas-Pena has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States and is a citizen of Mexico. He faces removal to Mexico because of a state drug trafficking conviction. He has applied for deferral of removal... Read More

CA7 on Motions to Reopen: Sanchez v. Sessions
Posted on 6 Jul 2018 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Sanchez v. Sessions - "The Board’s language indicates that it applied the wrong standard in evaluating the prejudice component. As Sanchez rightly puts it, the standard as the Board articulated it is one of probability, when the correct standard... Read More

CA7 on Fraud Waiver: Acquaah v. Sessions
Posted on 6 Nov 2017 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Acquaah v. Sessions, Nov. 6, 2017 - "The Board erred when it treated the absence of a specific fraud charge as dispositive over the availability of a fraud waiver under § 1227(a)(1)(H). It should have considered whether the charge sustained... Read More

CA7 on Aggravated Felony: Rodriguez-Contreras v. Sessions
Posted on 13 Oct 2017 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Rodriguez-Contreras v. Sessions, Oct. 12, 2017 - "How the substantive elements of 720 ILCS 5/24–1.1(a) mesh with those of §922(g)(1) has never been resolved by this court. Now is the time. ... [T]he state statute is indeed broader than... Read More

CA7 on IJ Waiver Authority: Baez-Sanchez v. Sessions
Posted on 6 Oct 2017 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Baez-Sanchez v. Sessions, Oct. 6, 2017 - "This proceeding begins where L.D.G. v. Holder, 744 F.3d 1022 (7th Cir. 2014), ends. ... The BIA in Khan did not identify any provision that subtracts from the delegation in §1003.10(a). Nor did the Third... Read More

CA7 on Honduras, CAT - Perez v. Sessions (May 2, 2018)
Posted on 7 May 2018 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Perez v. Sessions (May 2, 2018) - "Perez argues that the immigration service erred by failing to make factual findings about whether he would have been tortured had he not narrowly escaped the gang’s violent recruitment efforts years earlier... Read More

CA7 (Posner) on Mexico, CAT, Zetas - Rodriguez-Molinero v. Lynch
Posted on 17 Dec 2015 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Rodriguez-Molinero v. Lynch, Dec. 17, 2015 - "If the Mexican government could be expected to protect the petitioner from the Zetas should he be returned to Mexico, the risk that he would be tortured or killed might be too slight to entitle him to... Read More

CA7 on Asylum, Credibility...and Chenery: Jimenez Ferreira v. Lynch - Published! (Aug. 5, 2016)
Posted on 10 Aug 2016 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Jimenez Ferreira v. Lynch, Aug. 5, 2016 - "We conclude that the agency erred by (1) failing to address Jimenez’s argument that the notes from the credible‐fear interview are unreliable and therefore an improper basis for an adverse credibility... Read More

Posner, Easterbrook Skewer Indiana at Oral Argument: Exodus Refugee International v. Pence
Posted on 16 Sep 2016 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Esther Yu Hsi Lee, ThinkProgress, Sept. 15, 2016 - "In a tense exchange with attorneys defending Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s order to prevent Syrian refugees from resettling in his state, two federal judges sharply criticized the legal rationale... Read More

'Motor Voter' Error Could Trigger Deportation
Posted on 22 Feb 2014 by Daniel M. Kowalski

"With her fiancée visa in hand, Elizabeth Keathley moved to Bloomington from her native Philippines in 2003. She quickly went about organizing the details of her new life in Illinois, including getting her driver’s license. At the Illinois... Read More

Posner Dings the BIA Again: CA7 on Withholding, Nicaragua - Gutierrez-Rostran v. Lynch
Posted on 15 Jan 2016 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Gutierrez-Rostran v. Lynch, Jan. 13, 2016 - "The treatment by the immigration court and the Board of the cousin’s murder was too cursory to justify denial of Gutierrez-Rostran’s application for withholding of removal. ... Neither the... Read More

CA7 on BIA Fact-Finding: Rosiles-Camarena v. Holder
Posted on 21 Aug 2013 by Daniel M. Kowalski

"The Board has interpreted §1003.1(d)(3)(i) in a way that it believes makes clauses (i) and (ii) harmonious by relying on the longstanding distinctions between adjudicative and legislative facts, and between historical (case-specific) facts... Read More

CA7 on Retroactivity, Aggravated Felony: Zivkovic v. Holder
Posted on 31 Jul 2013 by Daniel M. Kowalski

"Milija Zivkovic, a Serbian who has been in the United States since 1966, has petitioned for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ordering him removed from the United States. The Board found that Zivkovic was removable because he... Read More

CA7 on Social Group; Mexico; Honest Police: R.R.D. v. Holder
Posted on 19 Mar 2014 by Daniel M. Kowalski

"While R.R.D. was an investigator for Mexico’s Federal Agency of Investigation, he arrested hundreds of suspects and repeatedly testified against drug traffickers. Drug organizations offered bribes to get him out of their hair and, when he... Read More

CA7 on FGM, Botstwana: Musa v. Lynch
Posted on 23 Feb 2016 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Musa v. Lynch, Feb. 19, 2016 - "Bathusi Musa, a citizen of Botswana, petitions for review of the denial of her application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture, all based on her fear that her family... Read More