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Sigaran v. Barr

Facts

Jairo Arquimedes Machado Sigaran, who came to the U.S. at age sixteen, was issued a notice to appear in immigration court but did not receive actual notice of his final removal hearing due to not updating his address. After being ordered removed in absentia in 2000, he lived in the U.S. for several years before being deported in 2011. He later sought to reopen his case based on not receiving notice, which led to the Texas immigration judge vacating the removal order. However, the BIA ultimately ruled that his absence from the U.S. disqualified him from TPS relief.

Machado first came to the United States to join his mother in Massachusetts at the age of sixteen. He was picked up by border patrol agents near Brownsville, Texas, a few days after he crossed the United States-Mexico border. While detained, in December 1997, he was issued a document titled 'notice to appear' in immigration court. The notice did not include the date and time of his first immigration hearing. It did, however, state: You must notify the Immigration Court immediately . . . whenever you change your address or telephone number during the course of this proceeding. . . . If you do not . . . provide an address at which you may be reached during proceedings, then the Government shall not be required to provide you with written notice of your hearing.

Issue

Whether the BIA correctly denied Machado's request for temporary protected status relief based on his absence from the U.S. and the validity of the notice he received regarding his removal hearing.

Whether the BIA correctly denied Machado's request for temporary protected status relief based on his absence from the U.S. and the validity of the notice he received regarding his removal hearing.

Rule

Under 8 U.S.C. 1254a, an applicant for TPS must demonstrate continuous physical presence and residence in the U.S. Any absence must be brief, casual, and innocent. Proper notice of removal proceedings must be given, and failure to update an address can negate claims of not receiving notice.

Eligibility for TPS relief requires — among other things — the applicant to have 'been continuously physically present in the United States since the effective date of the most recent designation' under 1254a(b)(1) of the state of which he is a national, and to have 'continuously resided in the United States since such date as the Attorney General may designate.' 8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(1)(A)(i)-(ii). An applicant can still satisfy the requirements for continuous physical presence and continuous residence if any absence from the United States was 'brief, casual, and innocent.' Id. 1254a(c)(4)(A)-(B).

Analysis

The court found that the BIA was within its discretion to review the rescission of Machado's in absentia removal order. It concluded that Machado's absence was not brief, casual, and innocent because he did not comply with the requirement to notify immigration authorities of his address change. The BIA determined that proper notice was given to Machado at his last known address, and thus, he was not eligible for TPS relief.

The BIA seems to have assumed on remand that a departure pursuant to a removal order could be brief, casual, and innocent if the order was later rescinded as invalid from the outset. The BIA thus pivoted to address the question of whether the rescission itself was lawful, concluding that it was not. Machado now argues that it was improper for the BIA to reach the issue of whether the Texas immigration judge's rescission of the removal order was correct because, according to Machado, that issue was outside the bounds of our remand order.

Conclusion

The court affirmed the BIA's decision, concluding that Machado's absence from the U.S. disqualified him from TPS relief and that the BIA's legal analysis was correct.

The court affirmed the decision of the BIA denying petitioner's request for TPS relief.

Who won?

The Board of Immigration Appeals prevailed because they correctly determined that Machado did not meet the requirements for TPS relief due to his failure to update his address and the nature of his absence from the U.S.

The BIA's orders were affirmed to the extent they denied an alien temporary protected status relief was affirmed because, while the alien primarily argued his 98-day from the country was brief, casual, and innocent, the BIA was within its discretion to review the rescission of his in absentia removal order.

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