Judge Posner Slams BIA For Ignoring Evidence Of Worsening Conditions In South Sudan — Deng Arej v. Sessions — 7th Cir.

http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2017/D03-28/C:15-2061:J:Posner:aut:T:fnOp:N:1937333:S:0

“Arej has conceded that he qualifies as a criminal alien under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C), so our review of the Board’s decision is limited to issues of law. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D). But it was a serious legal error for the Board to have ignored Arej’s evidence. As we noted in Iglesias v. Mukasey, 540 F.3d 528, 531 (7th Cir. 2008), the Board cannot make a reasoned decision to deny a motion to reopen if it ignores the evidence that a petitioner presents.

Furthermore, a competent immigration service would not ignore world events. The dramatically worsening conditions in South Sudan have been widely reported, with the young nation described as “cracking apart” and United Nations officials raising concerns about genocide. See, e.g., Jeffrey Gettleman, “War Consumes South Sudan, a Young Nation Cracking Apart,” New York Times, March 4, 2017, https://nyti.ms/2lHeELw. “Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed”; “every major cease‐fire that has been

No. 15‐2061 5

painstakingly negotiated by African and Western officials has been violated”; and “dangerous fissures are opening up within the South Sudanese military.” Id. And time doesn’t stand still. The Board’s order dismissing Arej’s appeal from the immigration judge’s denial of his motion to reopen was issued on May 8, 2015—almost two years ago. Considering that Arej has not yet been removed and that the order was perfunctory, the Board should consider whether he should be allowed to present evidence concerning current conditions in the two Sudans. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(a).

The petition for review is therefore granted, the decision of the Board vacated, and the case remanded to the Board for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

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Seems like a South Sudan case would be a “no brainer” for reopening by the BIA. Not sure we even deport folks there. And, actually reviewing the evidence carefully would be a great first step toward becoming “the world’s best administrative tribunals, guaranteeing fairness and due process for all.” Or, has the vision become just a slogan from bygone years? He’s probably only eligible to apply for withholding or CAT, though, because of the nature of his criminal conviction.

PWS

03/29/17

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Gus Villageliu
Gus Villageliu
6 years ago

Adding Posner to the growing “no-Chevron” judiciary, specially if Gorsuch’s “Elephant in the Room we must address” proves prophetic. I think he is a cinch for confirmation, and Democrats are foolish to oppose an intelligent Libertarian. For details see my Facebook post at https://www.facebook.com/gusvillageliu

But between us, remember what Thom Hussey said about removing judicial second guessing our decisions. Aggressive “Chevron”. And us adjudicators remember how our quality decision making was constantly compromised by sheer docket priorities.
As both a former IJ and BIA, I tell you, our hard work at making fair decisions with inadequate resources is well settled. We did hard work.
But it was inside work, no heavy lifting. Proudest time of my life. Met great friends! As Sinatra sang: Nice Work if you can get it! at https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHZL_enUS703US703&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=nice+work+if+you+can+get+it+lyrics&*