Thomas v. Garland

Summary

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied Akeim Le Andrew Thomas's petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' affirmance of the denial of his application for adjustment of status. The court held that the immigration court could consider a police report and the circumstances of pending criminal charges in evaluating discretionary relief, and that Thomas failed to establish a due process violation.

Holdings

1. An immigration court may generally consider a police report when making a discretionary immigration decision, even if the arrest did not result in a charge or conviction; the use of the report here was not fundamentally unfair.
2. Thomas could not establish a due process violation because he failed to show that he had a protected liberty interest in the discretionary relief from removal that he voluntarily sought.
3. The court lacked jurisdiction to consider Thomas's argument that 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a) does not permit consideration of criminal history because he failed to present that argument to the BIA.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the agency fundamentally acted unfairly by considering a police report concerning an arrest that had not resulted in a conviction when deciding whether Thomas merited discretionary adjustment of status.
2. Whether Thomas was deprived of due process when removal proceedings proceeded while related state criminal charges were pending and the government relied on the police report from those charges.
3. Whether the court could consider Thomas's argument that 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a) does not permit consideration of criminal history when that argument was not presented to the BIA.

Disposition

writ_denied