Appellate Law

CA1: Petition for review of Colombian asylum-seeker granted

By S. COTUS

Bonilla v. Mukasey, No. 07-1813.  The petitioner is a Colombian.  FARC was giving him a hard time.  So he moved to Venezuela, where he got a ?permanent resident? stamp.  Then he went back to Columbia.  The IJ concluded that he was ?firmly resettled? in Venezuela, and therefore he had ?firmly resettled? there.  See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2)(A)(vi); 8 C.F.R. § 208.15.  He claims that he didn't really have permission to resettle in Venezuela, because the stamp expired, and he never really lived there.  The First says that the evidence is ambiguous ? because renewal of the stamp might be just an administrative thing -- and the government bears the burden of showing resettlement.  So, the First remands.

Full post as published by Appellate Law and Practice on August 25, 2008 (boomark / email).