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appealhearingmotionwilldivorcevisa
appealhearingmotionwillvisajudicial review

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Toure v. Barr

Facts

Yaya Toure, a citizen of Mali, entered the U.S. on a tourist visa and married a U.S. citizen, Latasha Wolfe, in 2009. After filing a joint petition to remove conditions on his residency, USCIS found the marriage to be fraudulent and denied the petition. Following their divorce in 2014, Toure delayed filing a new petition for a waiver of the joint-filing requirement until just three months before his scheduled removal hearing in 2017, leading to the immigration judge's denial of his motion to continue the hearing.

Yaya Toure was born in Cote D'Ivoire and is a citizen of Mali. He entered the United States on a tourist visa on January 6, 2007. On June 8, 2009, he married Latasha Wolfe, a United States citizen. Conditional on his marriage, the United States Citizen and Immigration Services ('USCIS') granted Toure permanent resident status on December 17, 2009. In September 2011, Toure and Wolfe filed a joint I-751 petition to remove the conditions on residence pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1186a(c)(1).

Issue

Did the immigration judge abuse her discretion by denying Toure's motion to continue the removal hearing?

The issue in this petition for judicial review is whether the immigration judge abused her discretion by denying a motion to continue a removal hearing.

Rule

An immigration judge may grant a motion for continuance for good cause shown, and the decision will be upheld unless it was made without a rational explanation, inexplicably departed from established policies, or rested on an impermissible basis.

We review the denial of a motion to continue for abuse of discretion. Giri v. Lynch , 793 F.3d 797, 800-01 (7th Cir. 2015) . When the immigration judge gives a reason for her decision to deny the continuance, 'this court will uphold the decision unless it was made without a rational explanation, inexplicably departed from established policies, or rested on an impermissible basis.' Id. at 801 , quoting Calma , 663 F.3d at 878.

Analysis

The court found that the immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals provided rational reasons for denying the continuance. Toure's late filing of the waiver petition and his failure to communicate changes in his marital status were significant factors. The judge emphasized that Toure had ample time to notify the court and pursue his waiver but did not do so in a timely manner.

Under either standard, we find no abuse of discretion here. The immigration judge and Board gave rational reasons for the denial. They did not depart inexplicably from established policies, and there is no indication that they rested their decisions on an impermissible basis.

Conclusion

The court denied Toure's petition for review, affirming the immigration judge's decision to remove him to Mali.

For these reasons, Toure's petition for review is DENIED.

Who won?

The government prevailed in the case, as the court found that the immigration judge did not abuse her discretion in denying Toure's motion for a continuance based on his lack of diligence and the untimeliness of his waiver request.

The Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed Toure's appeal. Citing Matter of L-A-B-R-, 27 I & N Dec. 405 (A.G. 2018), the Board found that the immigration judge properly denied the request for continuance because the motion was untimely and good cause was not shown.

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