NEWS FROM THE COURTS

Kuhali v. Reno, Second Circuit

In this case, the court affirmed the deportation order.

Alawi Kuhail, a permanent resident of the US and native of Yemen was convicted in 1980 of conspiracy to export firearms without a license and sentenced to one year in prison.  In 1999, nearly 20 years later, the INS placed him in deportation proceedings, saying that his conviction was a firearms offense and therefore an aggravated felony.  An immigration judge ruled that the offense did not qualify as an aggravated felony, and granted Kuhail voluntary departure.  Kuhail, however, appealed the ruling to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which ruled that the offense was an aggravated felony that rendered Kuhail ineligible for any relief and ordered him deported.  Kuhail filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with a federal district court, which was denied.  Kuhail then appealed to the Second Circuit.

The issue before the Second Circuit was whether Kuhail’s conviction was for a firearms offense, or whether it was simply, as he argued, a violation of licensing laws.  The deportation statute at issue included possession of a firearm, which the Board found was an inherent part of Kuhail’s conviction.  The court agreed with the Board, finding its position to be a reasonable interpretation of the law.  Therefore, it affirmed the denial of habeas corpus.

The opinion is available online at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=2nd&navby=case&no=002531v2&exact=1.

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Pop v. INS, Seventh Circuit

In this case, the court affirmed the denial of asylum. 

Rodica Pop, a citizen of Romania, came to the US in 1993 at age 15 as a tourist.  She overstayed her visa, and was placed in deportation proceedings.  Pop filed an application for asylum, claiming that would be persecuted in Romania because she was a Jehovah’s Witness. 

In support of her application, she testified that she was beaten by her school teachers, and that her grades were purposefully lowered, making it impossible for her to advance in school.  An immigration judge found that her testimony was not credible, based on inconsistencies between her testimony and the documentation she presented to support her claim.  She claimed to have finished eighth grade in 1989, but her school transcript showed she finished in 1991.  The transcripts also revealed no pattern of grade lowering.  In fact, in the one year in which Pop received failing grades, in other classes she achieved her highest grades yet.  The court found the adverse credibility determination to be supported by the evidence, and so upheld the denial of asylum.

The opinion is available online at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=7th&navby=case&no=011369.