A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit granted a petition by Adamu Sumaila, a gay man from Ghana, for asylum in the United States, reversing decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) , which had affirmed an Immigration Judge (IJ) decision denying Sumaila’s application. Circuit Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo wrote the opinion in Sumaila v. Attorney General of the United States, 2020 WL 1527070 (3rd Cir., March … <Read More>
Board of Immigration Appeals
First Circuit Refuses to Order Reopening of Asylum Proceedings for Lesbian from Uganda
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit denied a petition by a lesbian from Uganda to order the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to reopen her immigration case, finding that nothing she had introduced in support of her second petition for reopening showed that conditions for LGBT people in Uganda had gotten worse since the original proceeding in which she was ordered to be removed back to her home country. Nantume v. … <Read More>
2nd Circuit Remands CAT Claim by Gay Jamaican Man
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has remanded to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) for reconsideration a claim for relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) by a gay man from Jamaica who was subject to deportation based on some state law convictions in Connecticut. Walker v. Lynch, 2016 WL 4191844, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 14554 (August 9, 2016). The panel, consisting of Circuit Judges … <Read More>
7th Circuit Remands Gay Mexican’s Withholding of Removal Claim to BIA
A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has granted a petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) decision to deny withholding of removal to a gay, HIV-positive man from Mexico, finding that the BIA had failed to comply with a regulation governing review of Immigration Judge (IJ) decisions by engaging in de novo review of facts decided by the IJ. Rosiles-Camerana v. Holder, 2013 U.S. App.
… <Read More> Immigration Review Panel Announces Same-Sex Marriage Recognition Rule
Shortly after the Supreme Court held Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional on June 26 in U.S. v. Windsor, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the immigration service under her department would recognize same-sex marriages that were valid where they were performed, using the “place of celebration rule.” But her announcement, which varied from standard practice of considering whether a marriage was recognized where the couple was residing, … <Read More>