Summary
This Board of Immigration Appeals decision addresses whether an Immigration Judge may deem an asylum application incomplete or abandoned due to missing responses on Form I-589 or a lack of a supporting declaration. The Board holds that while judges may reject applications lacking required form responses, a declaration is not a constituent part of the application and its absence cannot justify deeming the entire application abandoned. Additionally, the Board affirms the denial of cancellation of removal because the respondent's admission to selling cocaine legally precludes a finding of good moral character. The record is remanded for the Immigration Judge to consider the merits of the asylum application.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether a Form I‑589 lacking a declaration is incomplete or abandoned for purposes of asylum eligibility.
- Whether the respondent lacks good moral character for cancellation of removal based on an admission of selling cocaine.
Holdings
- A Form I‑589 is not incomplete and may not be deemed abandoned solely because the respondent failed to submit a declaration; the Immigration Judge must consider the asylum application on the merits.
- The respondent lacks good moral character as a matter of law because he admitted selling cocaine, a controlled substance, within the required ten‑year period, rendering him ineligible for cancellation of removal.
Key quotations
“An Immigration Judge is not required to consider an Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal (Form I-589) on the merits if it is incomplete, and incomplete applications may be considered waived or abandoned, particularly where an opportunity to cure has been offered.” (at 13)
“Because declarations are not a constituent part of an asylum application, a Form I-589 is not incomplete, and an Immigration Judge may not deem it abandoned, solely because the respondent did not submit a declaration.” (at 17)
Factual background
The respondent, a native of El Salvador, filed three incomplete asylum applications and a fourth that answered all Form I‑589 questions but lacked a properly certified translation of a declaration. The Immigration Judge deemed the first three applications incomplete and the fourth abandoned for the missing declaration, and denied cancellation of removal based on the respondent’s admission of selling cocaine.
Procedural history
The respondent filed multiple Form I‑589 asylum applications that were deemed incomplete for missing answers. After being directed to file a declaration, the respondent submitted declarations that were rejected, leading the Immigration Judge to deem the fourth asylum application waived and abandoned and to deny cancellation of removal. The respondent appealed.
Remand instructions
Remand the record to the Immigration Judge to consider the merits of the respondent’s asylum application.