Professional Documents
Culture Documents
OF THE
BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS
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BY BEN WINOGRAD
2024 EDITION
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A PUBLICATION OF THE
IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE APPELLATE CENTER, LLC
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Copyright © Immigrant & Refugee Appellate Center, LLC, 2024. All rights reserved.
This Index is intended for lawyers and is not a substitute for independent legal advice.
INDEX OF UNPUBLISHED DECISIONS OF THE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS
BY BEN WINOGRAD
ENDORSEMENTS
“There’s nothing like it. Serious researchers must have it.”
– Daniel M. Kowalski, Editor-in-Chief, Bender’s Immigration Bulletin (LexisNexis)
“A timely, invaluable service that brings transparency to the BIA’s often opaque and
seemingly haphazard decision making.”
– Andrew Knapp, Esq., Adjunct Professor, Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles
“An incredible resource that every lawyer practicing before the Immigration Court and the
BIA should have in their back pocket.”
- Camila Palmer, Esq., Denver, Colo.
“A treasure trove.”
- Patrick Taurel, Esq., Grossman, Young & Hammond
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SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
(A detailed table of contents begins on the following page)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Click a topic below to be directed to the relevant section)
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Ethiopia............................................................................................................................. 116
Guatemala ........................................................................................................................ 117
Honduras .......................................................................................................................... 117
India .................................................................................................................................. 117
Indonesia........................................................................................................................... 117
Iraq .................................................................................................................................... 119
Kenya ................................................................................................................................ 119
Malawi .............................................................................................................................. 119
Mauritania ........................................................................................................................ 119
Mexico ............................................................................................................................... 119
Russia................................................................................................................................ 120
Somalia ............................................................................................................................. 120
Syria .................................................................................................................................. 120
Ukraine ............................................................................................................................. 120
Uzbekistan ........................................................................................................................ 120
Venezuela.......................................................................................................................... 120
Yemen ............................................................................................................................... 121
Confidentiality ......................................................................................................................... 121
Corroboration ........................................................................................................................... 121
Credible Fear Determinations ................................................................................................ 121
Discretionary Determinations ................................................................................................. 122
Disfavored Groups ................................................................................................................... 125
Domestic Violence—Matter of A-R-C-G-, 26 I&N Dec. 388 (BIA 2014) ................................ 125
Ability to Leave Relationship .......................................................................................... 125
Nexus/Motivations of Abuser .......................................................................................... 126
No Marriage Requirement ............................................................................................... 127
Reporting Abuse to Authorities ....................................................................................... 130
Vacatur of Matter of A-B-................................................................................................. 130
Dual Nationals ......................................................................................................................... 131
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) .......................................................................................... 131
Firm Resettlement Bar ............................................................................................................ 132
Frivolousness Findings ............................................................................................................ 134
Fundamental Change in Circumstances ................................................................................ 135
Gangs and Cartels.................................................................................................................... 136
Humanitarian Asylum ............................................................................................................. 137
Internal Relocation .................................................................................................................. 138
Material Support Bar .............................................................................................................. 140
Military Conscripts .................................................................................................................. 140
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ABBREVIATIONS
BIA – Board of Immigration Appeals
CBP – Customs and Border Protection
CFR – Code of Federal Regulations
DHS – Department of Homeland Security
EAD – Employment Authorization Document
ICE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement
IJ – Immigration Judge
INA – Immigration and Nationality Act
LPR – Lawful Permanent Resident
NACARA – Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act
NTA – Notice to Appear
SIJ – Special Immigrant Juvenile
TPS – Temporary Protected Status
USCIS – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
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I. GROUNDS OF REMOVABILITY
Alienage
Deivid Jonas Perez-Vail, A208 273 490 (BIA Nov. 16, 2020) (upholds finding that DHS failed to
establish alienage by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence where IJ did not clearly err in
crediting testimony of respondent’s parents that he was born in Florida) (Kelly, Adkins-Blanch,
Couch (dissenting))
Herman Dickens Ogoti, A099 235 155 (BIA June 10, 2019) (terminates proceedings under Okpala v.
Whitaker, 908 F.3d 965 (5th Cir. 2018), because respondent was a naturalized citizen at the time of
the conviction giving rise to the charge of removability) (Adkins-Blanch, Liebmann, Morris)
Chineye Helen Ananti, A061 340 835 (BIA July 11, 2019) (affirms finding that respondent did not
abandon LPR status where she returned to the United States six times between 2010 and 2016,
applied for visas for her children after completing her medical residency abroad, and her husband
(an attorney) planned to take the New York bar) (Greer)
Adrian Omaliki Sebastian Prass, A045 869 924 (BIA Feb. 6, 2019) (IJ improperly shifted burden to
respondent to establish that he did not abandon LPR status) (Kendall Clark, Guendelsberger, Grant
(dissenting))
John Deng Wol Wol, A094 695 752 (BIA May 7, 2018) (vacates finding that pro se respondent
conceded abandoning LPR status because he did not understand the significance of his admissions)
(Pauley, Greer, Wendtland)
Marie Anne Allsopp, A036 886 149 (BIA March 6, 2018) (reverses determination that respondent
intended to abandon LPR status in light of numerous subsequent admissions in non-immigrant
status, attempts to reacquire LPR status through congressman, and attempt to obtain labor
certification) (Cole, Wendtland, Pauley (dissenting)
Jin Soo Lee, A043 345 619 (BIA Dec. 19, 2017) (upholds finding that respondent did not abandon
LPR status where IJ credited in-court testimony over purported statements in Form I-213) (Pauley)
Amrollah Vaziri, A099 237 670 (BIA Oct. 27, 2017) (upholds finding that respondent did not abandon
LPR status where intended to return to United States and was precluded from leaving Iran due to
medical issues and family obligations) (Greer, Adkins-Blanch, Wendtland)
Ka I Lei, A046 594 161 (BIA March 8, 2017) (reverses finding of abandonment following 33-month
departure because DHS failed to demonstrate that respondent lacked continuous intent to return;
facts of case warrant deviation from general principle that parent’s intent to abandon LPR status
may be imputed to unemancipated minor) (Greer, Wendtland, Cole (dissenting))
Irene O. Atseyinku, A058 536 724 (BIA Oct. 25, 2016) (upholds finding that respondent abandoned
LPR status based on lengthy trips abroad and insignificance of contacts in United States) (Greer,
Pauley, Wendtland (dissenting))
Yusniel Michel Arias Rodriguez, A098 308 637 (BIA Nov. 16, 2015) (remands for further