SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A Haitian immigrant is entitled to a new hearing after the Board of Immigration Appeals failed to properly address his claim that he faced torture if returned to Haiti, the 9th Circuit ruled.
Volsaint Doissaint was faced with removal after his conviction for second-degree assault. However, Judge Graber said the BIA made a mistake when it denied Doissaint's motion to reopen the case.
Graber ruled that Doissaint did not abandon his case, as the BIA ruled.
On first impression in the circuit, Graber decided the BIA could not cure the error with a subsequent reconsideration of the motion.
"The BIA could not, as a procedural shortcut, deny petitioner's motion to reopen and then proceed as if its legal error had not occurred," Graber concluded.
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