In a letter dated April 12, 2024 the State Department and USCIS discuss "concerns about biometrics collection for applicants for T nonimmigrant status and petitioners for U nonimmigrant status abroad...
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 84 / Tuesday, April 30, 2024 "This final rule adopts and replaces regulations relating to key aspects of the placement, care, and services provided to unaccompanied...
Bouarfa v. Mayorkas Issue: Whether a visa petitioner may obtain judicial review when an approved petition is revoked on the basis of nondiscretionary criteria. Case below: 75 F.4th 1157 (11th Cir....
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 84 / Tuesday, April 30, 2024 "On December 19, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an interim final rule (2016 interim rule) amending its regulations...
IMMpact Litigation, Apr. 25, 2024 "IMMpact Litigation, seeking redress for over 100,000 Ukrainian nationals paroled into the United States post-February 2022, today announces a significant advancement...
Matter of German Santos, 28 I&N Dec. 552 (BIA 2022)
(1) Any fact that establishes or increases the permissible range of punishment for a criminal offense is an “element” for purposes of the categorical approach, even if the term “element” is defined differently under State law. Matter of Laguerre, 28 I&N Dec. 437 (BIA 2022), followed.
(2) Title 35, section 780-113(a)(30) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, which punishes possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, is divisible with respect to the identity of the controlled substance possessed, and the respondent’s conviction under this statute is one for a controlled substance violation under section 237(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i) (2018), under the modified categorical approach.
"An Immigration Judge found the respondent removable under section 237(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i) (2018), based on a Pennsylvania conviction for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. The respondent contends that under State law the identity of the controlled substance is a “grading factor” for sentencing rather than an element of the offense. Regardless of the State’s classification, any fact that establishes or increases the permissible range of punishment is an element of the offense for Federal purposes. Here, the identity of the controlled substance establishes the permissible range of punishment and is therefore an element of the offense. The statute of conviction is therefore divisible and the respondent was properly found removable. We affirm the Immigration Judge’s denial of cancellation of removal and will dismiss the respondent’s appeal."