Luziga v. Attorney General—immigration—reversal—Fisher

Here’s the introduction of today’s Third Circuit opinion granting a Tanzanian man’s immigration petition for review:

An Immigration Judge (IJ) decided, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) agreed, that Petitioner Ayub Luziga is ineligible for withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and the Convention Against Torture (CAT) because he was convicted of a “particularly serious crime,” and that he is not entitled to deferral of removal under the CAT  because he failed to carry his burden of proof. Luziga requests our review, arguing that the IJ and BIA made two legal errors. First, Luziga argues that the IJ and BIA misapplied the framework for making particularly serious crime determinations, a framework the BIA itself has established in its precedential opinions. Second, Luziga argues that the IJ failed to observe the rule we articulated in Abdulai v. Ashcroft, 239 F.3d 542, 554 (3d Cir. 2001), requiring immigration judges to notify a noncitizen in removal proceedings that he is expected to present corroborating evidence before finding that failure to present such evidence undermines his claim. We agree that the IJ and BIA erred in these respects; therefore, we will grant Luziga’s petition for review, vacate the underlying order, and remand.

On the first point, misapplication of the particularly-serious-crime framework, the IJ and BIA were required to consider separately the elements of his crime but failed to do so, focusing instead on the facts of the crime.

On the second, corroboration point, the opinion was blunt: “what we prohibit is failing to notify the noncitizen of an unspoken expectation and then penalizing him for failing to meet it,” and “we strictly enforce this rule.”

Joining Fisher were Ambro and Restrepo. Arguing counsel were Khary Anderson for the petitioner and Jennifer Khouri of the DOJ for the government. In a footnote, the court ” express its gratitude to a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Khary Anderson, and his supervising lawyers, Joseph Patrick Archie and Christopher J. Mauro of Dechert LLP, for their excellent pro bono representation of the Petitioner in this matter.” Not a bad way to start a legal career.