Immigration

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

U Visa Appellants v. USCIS — Advance Parole for Waitlisted Petitioners Is Discretionary

automatic / September 14, 2026

Waitlisted U-visa petitioners have no mandatory right to advance parole, though some waiting-list-delay theories require further district-court review.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Perez-Castillo v. Blanche — Immigration persecutor bar has no implied duress defense

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit independently interpreted the immigration persecutor bar and held that it contains no implied duress defense.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration, Litigation

Urias-Gaxiola v. Blanche — Noncitizen must be allowed to prove counsel’s factual admission was wrong

automatic / September 2, 2026

The Ninth Circuit required an immigration judge to hear evidence that counsel’s written admission about a noncitizen’s entry was factually wrong.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Garcia Morales v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit rejects entry-based asylum restriction and requires full mixed-motive analysis

automatic / August 31, 2026

The Ninth Circuit invalidated an entry-based asylum restriction in an individual case and required the agency to apply the complete mixed-motive persecution test.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Immigration

Jacques v. Blanche — Government’s misdirected immigration notices violated due process

automatic / August 28, 2026

The government violated due process by pursuing immigration appeals through notices mailed to an address it knew was not the detainee's location.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration

Mbueno-Vita v. Blanche — Translation problems and trivial inconsistencies could not support adverse credibility finding

automatic / August 28, 2026

The Ninth Circuit rejected an adverse credibility finding built on trivial discrepancies and testimony distorted by evident interpretation problems.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration

Parada Calderon v. Blanche — Torture claim cannot be rejected for lacking statistical proof

automatic / August 28, 2026

The Board of Immigration Appeals cannot demand statistical proof of torture when regulations require consideration of all relevant evidence.

California Supreme Court, Criminal Law, Immigration

People v. Hernandez — Court Orders Plea Vacated for Faulty Immigration Advice

automatic / August 13, 2026

The California Supreme Court reversed and directed the trial court to grant the motion, vacate the convictions, and conduct further proceedings. Counsel’s generalized and inaccurate advice did not give Hernandez the concrete understanding needed to make an informed plea decision.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Gonzalez-Argueta v. Blanche — Former-Officer Asylum Claim Fails Nexus Rule

automatic / August 13, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denied review under existing precedent. Because the claimed protected status was being a former officer, the panel treated post-service mistreatment as the relevant nexus evidence; the absence of later threats supported the agency’s finding that the feared harm was not on account of that status.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration, Litigation

Duralev v. United States — FTCA does not cover damages for mistaken federal work-permit denial

automatic / August 11, 2026

The FTCA did not waive sovereign immunity for an allegedly negligent federal work-authorization decision because private actors perform no comparable function.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Immigration, Litigation

Rodriguez Vazquez v. Bostock — Interior Immigration Arrests Do Not Trigger Mandatory Detention

automatic / July 30, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that noncitizens arrested in the interior after entering without inspection are not automatically subject to mandatory detention and may seek bond consideration.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law, Immigration

Diaz-Boyzo v. Blanche — Assaulting a Spouse in Front of Children Is a Removable Child-Abuse Offense

automatic / July 23, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that Oregon felony assault committed in front of a household child categorically qualifies as a removable child-abuse offense.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Torres-Casas v. Blanche — Child who turns 21 during BIA appeal stops qualifying for cancellation hardship

automatic / July 22, 2026

Child who turns 21 during BIA appeal stops qualifying for cancellation hardship.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Garcia Demetrio v. Blanche — Age-based asylum social groups are legally immutable

automatic / July 20, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that age-based asylum groups are immutable as a matter of law and ordered the BIA to reconsider the applicant's claims.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Immigration, Litigation

Menjivar-Ayala v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Holds BIA Must Consider Ineffective Assistance Claim Even When Attorney’s Failure Occurred Before a Different Court

automatic / July 9, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that the Board of Immigration Appeals has authority — and obligation — to consider ineffective assistance of counsel claims arising from an attorney's post-final-order misconduct before a different tribunal, and that mailing a courtesy copy of a BIA decision to a represented noncitizen does not overcome the presumption of prejudice from counsel's failure to notify them.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Sarr v. Blanche — Drug Trafficking Conviction Bars Removal Protection, and Chevron-Era Precedent Survives Loper Bright

automatic / July 7, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that a drug trafficking conviction supports denial of withholding of removal, and rules that a prior Chevron-based statutory precedent retains binding force under Loper Bright's doctrine of statutory stare decisis.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law, Immigration

Leon-Briviesca v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Defines “Crime of Child Abuse” for Immigration Removal After Loper Bright, Covers California Penal Code § 273a

automatic / June 25, 2026

In its first post-Loper Bright interpretation of the federal immigration removal ground for crimes of child abuse, the Ninth Circuit holds that the statute covers child endangerment, requires criminal negligence mens rea, and applies regardless of whether the defendant is the child's parent — and that California Penal Code § 273a(a) falls within its scope.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Litigation

Ibarra-Perez v. United States — Ninth Circuit Refuses En Banc Review of Ruling That FTCA Suit for Wrongful Removal to Unspecified Third Country Is Not Barred by § 1252(g)

automatic / June 25, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denies en banc review of a panel ruling that 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) does not strip federal district courts of jurisdiction over an FTCA damages claim by a noncitizen removed to Mexico when his removal order did not name Mexico as the destination.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Garcia Corrales v. Blanche — BIA Must Treat Mail-Delay Challenge as Motion to Reopen, Not Motion to Reconsider

automatic / June 24, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that the BIA must treat as a motion to reopen — not a motion to reconsider — a petitioner's challenge to a dismissed appeal where the challenge rests on evidence of a forty-two day USPS certified mail delay that was not before the BIA when it dismissed the appeal.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Litigation

Rojas-Espinoza v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit En Banc Reverses Course, Grants Stay of Removal and Will Reconsider Asylum Nexus Standard

automatic / June 9, 2026

The Ninth Circuit's en banc court vacates its own earlier denial of a stay of removal and re-grants the stay in an immigration case, while soliciting briefing on whether to overrule its 2023 precedent on the nexus element for asylum — drawing sharp dissents about the court's inconsistency.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Immigration, Litigation

Lnu v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Suspends Two California Attorneys for Filing AI-Hallucinated Citations and Repeatedly Lying About It

automatic / June 3, 2026

Ninth Circuit suspends two Orange County attorneys for six months after they filed briefs with AI-generated fake case citations and repeatedly denied the use of generative AI to the court.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Litigation

Singh v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Applies Supreme Court’s New Substantial Evidence Standard to Asylum Claims

automatic / May 15, 2026

The Ninth Circuit applies the Supreme Court's Urias-Orellana decision, holding that the highly deferential substantial evidence standard governs the entirety of the BIA's asylum conclusions, including whether undisputed facts constitute persecution.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Immigration

Urquia-Yanez v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit: DHS Need Not Translate Address-Update Rules into the Alien’s Native Language

automatic / May 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that DHS is not constitutionally required to translate the entirety of a Notice to Appear — including the obligation to update one's address with the immigration court — into the alien's native language.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Immigration

Sanchez Gonzalez v. U.S. Department of State — Ninth Circuit affirms visa denial of California spouse, holding that even after Muñoz a U.S. citizen’s First Amendment right to hear a noncitizen still triggers limited Mandel review

automatic / April 30, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirms the denial of a Mexican spouse's visa application, holding that after Department of State v. Muñoz a U.S. citizen spouse can still invoke the Mandel exception based on her First Amendment right to receive information, but that the consular officer's reason-to-believe determination provides a facially legitimate and bona fide basis for denial.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Immigration

Hanan v. USCIS — Ninth Circuit holds the marriage fraud bar applies even when the noncitizen never applied for benefits based on the sham marriage, and that USCIS need not produce the ex-spouse for cross-examination

automatic / April 27, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirms denial of an I-130 spousal petition under the marriage fraud bar, holding that the bar applies to attempts to enter sham marriages even without follow-on benefits applications and that USCIS need not produce the ex-spouse for cross-examination.