Appealing Decisions

By Anne Jang, RILA Staff Attorney

Last week, RILA filed an appeal brief on behalf of one of our clients. In general, we appeal a decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) when we believe there was an error during the individual hearing or in the Immigration Judge's analysis that incorrectly resulted in our client being denied asylum or other relief. The appeal is a way to address that error and request that the BIA reverse the Immigration Judge's decision or send it back down to the Immigration Judge for further consideration under the correct analysis. We haven't yet gone beyond the BIA yet, but should the BIA also deny relief, we then have the option of "going higher" by petitioning the federal appeals court (which for Virginia and Maryland is the Fourth Circuit) to review the BIA's decision. (And if our client loses before the federal appeals court, the next (and final) step up would be to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court!)

I find working on an appeal fulfilling because it's another opportunity to help our clients find justice and relief. As we've seen, Immigration Court can be an unpredictable place and a lot can happen during an individual hearing, including errors, misunderstandings, and oversights. Immigration Judges, though I'm sure they try their best, are not always well-informed about the state of the law (which is often in flux, especially over the past five years!) and don't always conduct the correct analysis. To be denied asylum is already a difficult thing, but to be denied on a flawed basis when you are legally eligible for relief is much worse; the former may be disappointing and even devastating, but the latter is truly injustice. The appeals process helps us ensure that our clients receive the best possible chance for asylum or other relief under the law.