A Review of Ninth Circuit and BIA Decisions by Merle D. Kahn, Esq.
This week the Ninth Circuit held that to determine the immigration effect of a criminal conviction the adjudicator must consider the statute at the time of the conviction. Remember The Great Gatsby from high school? Remember how Jay Gatsby desperately Continue reading It’s Futile to Try to Change the Future by Changing Your Past – At Least in Immigration Law
The Ninth Circuit has deferred to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) holding that a conviction for animal cruelty is categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). Ortega-Lopez v. Barr, No. 18-72441 (9th Cir. Oct. 20, 2020). Of even more Continue reading A CONVICTION FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY IS CATEGORICALLY A CRIME INVOLVING MORAL TURPITUDE
When does one scheme of misconduct end and another begin? I mean, “Everything has to come to an end, sometime.” L. Frank Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz. But, in immigration law, when is that point? When does something come to an Continue reading WHAT IS A SEPARATE SCHEME OF MISCONDUCT FOR CIMTS? WHEN DOES ONE SCHEME END AND A SECOND ONE BEGIN?
This past week the Ninth Circuit held (once again) that crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs) are not unconstitutionally vague and that a finding that a crime was a CIMT was not impermissibly retroactive. The BIA held that noncitizens are generally Continue reading CIMTs ARE NOT UNCONSTITUTIONALLY VAGUE; AND A NONCITIZEN’S SIGNATURE ON AN IMMIGRATION FORM CREATES A PRESUMPTION THAT THEY KNEW WHAT WAS ON THE FORM; PLUS MORE PEREIRA