Singh v. AG — immigration — denial — Jordan

A lawful permanent resident was convicted of counterfeiting and fraud and left the country. Then he returned (apparently he was allowed back in by mistake) and proceeded to live here without incident for 7 years. before being detained for removal by ICE. He challenged his removal, arguing he was eligible for cancellation of removal by statute. The BIA rejected his challenge, and today the Third Circuit denied his appeal.

The court held that the petitioner’s seven-year clock never started due to his prior moral-turpitude conviction plus the inclusion of that crime in his removal notice. The court deemed itself bound by prior circuit precedent which in turn gave Chevron deference to a BIA ruling that today’s court described as “not without flaws,” “formalistic,” and “odd,” noting, “It would behoove the BIA to provide some clarity in this area.” Slip op. at 13 n.7.

Not a very satisfying result, but sometimes that’s what faithful judging looks like.

Joining Jordan were Fisher and Chagares. Arguing counsel were Nicholas Mundy for the petitioner and Lindsay Murphy for the Government.