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Keywords

settlementappealhearingmotionasylumdeportation

settlementjurisdictionappealhearingmotiondeportation

Related Cases

Sotelo v. Gonzales

Facts

Petitioners Sergio Fajardo Sotelo, his wife Prisca Ramirez Aleman, and their daughter Yadira Betzave Fajardo Aleman, all natives and citizens of Mexico, entered the United States without inspection in August 1989. They were served with an Order to Show Cause on March 10, 1995, and deportation proceedings were commenced against them. After their application for asylum was denied, they filed a motion to reopen their deportation proceedings in 1998, claiming eligibility for suspension of deportation based on their continuous physical presence in the U.S. However, the BIA denied their motion based on the stop time rule established by the IIRIRA.

Petitioners Sergio Fajardo Sotelo, his wife Prisca Ramirez Aleman, and their daughter Yadira Betzave Fajardo Aleman, all natives and citizens of Mexico, entered the United States without inspection in August 1989. Less than six years later, on March 10, 1995, they were served with an Order to Show Cause and charged with entering the country without inspection.

Issue

Whether the petitioners were eligible class members under the Barahona-Gomez settlement agreement, allowing them to apply for suspension of deportation.

Rule

To be a member of the Barahona-Gomez class, an immigrant must show that they had a suspension of deportation hearing before April 1, 1997, and that the BIA withheld granting suspension of deportation due to directives issued prior to that date.

In Section I(B) the Barahona-Gomez settlement defines the class as follows: all persons who have had (or would have had) suspension of deportation hearings conducted before April 1, 1997, within the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and who were served an Order to Show Cause within seven years after entering the United States.

Analysis

The court determined that the petitioners did not meet the criteria for class membership as they did not have a suspension of deportation hearing before April 1, 1997, nor would they have had one if the challenged directives had not been issued. The BIA's denial of their motion to reopen was based on the merits of their case, specifically their failure to accrue seven years of continuous presence under the IIRIRA's stop time rule, rather than a decision to withhold relief based on the directives.

Despite petitioners' arguments, they are not persons entitled to relief under the terms of the Barahona-Gomez settlement. The settlement contains two provisions that define persons entitled to relief — a 'Definition of the Class' and a 'Definition of 'Eligible class members.'

Conclusion

The court affirmed the BIA's decision, concluding that the petitioners were not entitled to relief under the Barahona-Gomez settlement agreement.

Since petitioners are not entitled to relief based on class membership they cannot be 'Eligible class members' under the settlement agreement.

Who won?

The Board of Immigration Appeals prevailed in the case as the court affirmed its decision to deny the petitioners' motion to reopen deportation proceedings.

The BIA did not err in denying their motion to reopen.

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