Garcia Demetrio v. Blanche — Age-based asylum social groups are legally immutable
The Ninth Circuit held that age-based asylum groups are immutable as a matter of law and ordered the BIA to reconsider the applicant’s claims.
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Immigration
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Menjivar-Ayala v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Holds BIA Must Consider Ineffective Assistance Claim Even When Attorney’s Failure Occurred Before a Different Court
The Ninth Circuit holds that the Board of Immigration Appeals has authority — and obligation — to consider ineffective assistance of counsel claims arising from an attorney’s post-final-order misconduct before a different tribunal, and that mailing a courtesy copy of a BIA decision to a repres
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Sarr v. Blanche — Drug Trafficking Conviction Bars Removal Protection, and Chevron-Era Precedent Survives Loper Bright
The Ninth Circuit holds that a drug trafficking conviction supports denial of withholding of removal, and rules that a prior Chevron-based statutory precedent retains binding force under Loper Bright’s doctrine of statutory stare decisis.
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Leon-Briviesca v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Defines “Crime of Child Abuse” for Immigration Removal After Loper Bright, Covers California Penal Code § 273a
In its first post-Loper Bright interpretation of the federal immigration removal ground for crimes of child abuse, the Ninth Circuit holds that the statute covers child endangerment, requires criminal negligence mens rea, and applies regardless of whether the defendant is the child’s parent —
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Ibarra-Perez v. United States — Ninth Circuit Refuses En Banc Review of Ruling That FTCA Suit for Wrongful Removal to Unspecified Third Country Is Not Barred by § 1252(g)
The Ninth Circuit denies en banc review of a panel ruling that 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) does not strip federal district courts of jurisdiction over an FTCA damages claim by a noncitizen removed to Mexico when his removal order did not name Mexico as the destination.
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Garcia Corrales v. Blanche — BIA Must Treat Mail-Delay Challenge as Motion to Reopen, Not Motion to Reconsider
The Ninth Circuit holds that the BIA must treat as a motion to reopen — not a motion to reconsider — a petitioner’s challenge to a dismissed appeal where the challenge rests on evidence of a forty-two day USPS certified mail delay that was not before the BIA when it dismissed the appeal.
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Rojas-Espinoza v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit En Banc Reverses Course, Grants Stay of Removal and Will Reconsider Asylum Nexus Standard
The Ninth Circuit’s en banc court vacates its own earlier denial of a stay of removal and re-grants the stay in an immigration case, while soliciting briefing on whether to overrule its 2023 precedent on the nexus element for asylum — drawing sharp dissents about the court’s inconsistenc
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Luong v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Remands Removal Case, Applying New Equitable Tolling Standard and Correcting BIA Burden-of-Proof Error
The Ninth Circuit granted Chanh Huy Luong’s petition for review and remanded to the BIA, holding that equitable tolling diligence must be measured from when the petitioner actually faced imminent removal risk — not from a 1992 removal order that was unenforceable for decades — and that the BIA
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Vazquez Macias v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Holds Mexican Abandonment Constitutes ‘Legal Separation’ for Derivative Citizenship
The Ninth Circuit holds that abandonment recognized by a Mexican court constitutes a ‘legal separation’ for derivative citizenship under former 8 U.S.C. section 1432, granting a petition for review and finding the petitioner derived U.S. citizenship from his naturalized mother.
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Lnu v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Suspends Two California Attorneys for Filing AI-Hallucinated Citations and Repeatedly Lying About It
Ninth Circuit suspends two Orange County attorneys for six months after they filed briefs with AI-generated fake case citations and repeatedly denied the use of generative AI to the court.
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Keo v. Blanche — California assault with a firearm (Penal Code § 245(a)(2)) is not a deportable aggravated felony
The Ninth Circuit held that a California conviction for assault with a firearm under Penal Code § 245(a)(2) is not a deportable aggravated felony, vacating a removal order and signaling that thousands of similarly situated non-citizens may have grounds for relief.
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Florida v. California — Supreme Court Declines Original Jurisdiction Challenge to State CDL Licensing of Noncitizen Drivers
The Supreme Court declines to hear Florida’s original jurisdiction challenge to California and Washington CDL licensing practices for noncitizen drivers, over a dissent from Justices Thomas and Alito arguing the Court must exercise its original jurisdiction.
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Rojas Ramirez v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Remands Asylum Case Over BIA’s Failure to Address Family-Based Persecution Evidence
In a split decision, the Ninth Circuit remands an asylum case to the BIA after finding it failed to address substantial evidence that a Mexican woman’s family membership was a central reason for persecution by cartel-linked neighbors.
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Singh v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Applies Supreme Court’s New Substantial Evidence Standard to Asylum Claims
The Ninth Circuit applies the Supreme Court’s Urias-Orellana decision, holding that the highly deferential substantial evidence standard governs the entirety of the BIA’s asylum conclusions, including whether undisputed facts constitute persecution.
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United States v. Cabrera Ramirez — Ninth Circuit affirms § 1326(d) collateral attack denial where defendant could not show prejudice from immigration counsel’s errors
Ninth Circuit affirms the Central District of California’s refusal to dismiss an illegal reentry charge under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(d), holding that even assuming ineffective immigration counsel, the defendant’s extensive criminal record and lack of rehabilitation made it implausible that he w
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Urquia-Yanez v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit: DHS Need Not Translate Address-Update Rules into the Alien’s Native Language
The Ninth Circuit holds that DHS is not constitutionally required to translate the entirety of a Notice to Appear — including the obligation to update one’s address with the immigration court — into the alien’s native language.
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Sanchez Gonzalez v. U.S. Department of State — Ninth Circuit affirms visa denial of California spouse, holding that even after Muñoz a U.S. citizen’s First Amendment right to hear a noncitizen still triggers limited Mandel review
The Ninth Circuit affirms the denial of a Mexican spouse’s visa application, holding that after Department of State v. Muñoz a U.S. citizen spouse can still invoke the Mandel exception based on her First Amendment right to receive information, but that the consular officer’s reason-to-be
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Hanan v. USCIS — Ninth Circuit holds the marriage fraud bar applies even when the noncitizen never applied for benefits based on the sham marriage, and that USCIS need not produce the ex-spouse for cross-examination
The Ninth Circuit affirms denial of an I-130 spousal petition under the marriage fraud bar, holding that the bar applies to attempts to enter sham marriages even without follow-on benefits applications and that USCIS need not produce the ex-spouse for cross-examination.
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United States v. Gonzalez-Reyes — Ninth Circuit holds California rape conviction is a categorical match for federal aggravated felony, blocking collateral attack on illegal-reentry charge
The Ninth Circuit holds that a California rape conviction under Penal Code section 261(a)(2) is a categorical match for the federal generic definition of rape, qualifying as an aggravated felony and defeating an illegal-reentry defendant’s collateral attack on his prior removal order.
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People v. Avena — Section 1473.7 motion granted because counsel did not negotiate immigration-safe plea after intervening change in law
Fourth District grants Penal Code section 1473.7 relief where defense counsel failed to recognize and pursue an immigration-safe plea after Sessions v. Dimaya and United States v. Lynch opened the door to one.
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Ibarra Gamboa v. Garland — S.D. Cal. Dismisses Habeas Petition Filed by Detainee’s Partner Because Pro Se ‘Next Friend’ Cannot Sign for Petitioner
The court dismissed without prejudice an immigration habeas petition that had been signed by the detainee’s long-term partner as ‘next friend,’ ruling that even if the partner had a basis for next-friend standing under Whitmore v. Arkansas, she could not represent the detainee whil
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Muradyan v. Warden — S.D. Cal. Denies Habeas Petition by Armenian Detainee Awaiting Third-Country Removal Within Zadvydas Six-Month Period
The court denied without prejudice an Armenian asylum-seeker’s habeas petition challenging his post-removal-order detention while ICE seeks a third country to receive him, ruling that he had been detained less than six months and was still within Zadvydas’s presumptively reasonable remov
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Markov v. Warden — S.D. Cal. Denies Bond Hearing for Russian Asylum-Seeker Held Seven Months Under § 1225(b)(1) Mandatory Detention
The court applied the six-factor Banda test and concluded that seven months of mandatory detention of a Russian asylum-seeker who had been found to have a credible fear of persecution did not yet violate due process or require a bond hearing.
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Pogosian v. Bowen — C.D. Cal. Issues Preliminary Injunction Barring Re-Detention of Released Immigration Petitioner Without Procedural Protections
Central District of California enters a preliminary injunction barring federal immigration officials from re-detaining petitioner without complying with required procedures, holding the case is not moot under Nielsen v. Preap and that the Winter factors continue to support relief.