A federal appeals court has ruled that a pair of illegal aliens can remain in the United States for now because of a “legal error” made by the Biden Justice Department.
The case, Cortez v. United States Attorney General Pam Bondi, concerns a Salvadoran woman and her minor son.
They both entered the country illegally via the open Southern Border in 2021.
They “admitted that they were removable” to the immigration judge but sought relief from deportation on various grounds.
When they were denied, they asked the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to review the judge’s decision.
The Tenth Circuit Appeals Court sent the case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), finding the board was wrong to reject petitioners’ appeal because their lawyer did not provide a signed proof-of-service.
“The BIA’s rejection of Petitioners’ motion for reconsideration was predicated on an error of law and must be set aside,” the court stated in its opinion.
Immigration judges are part of the Justice Department.
They have broad discretion to “determine removability, excludability, or deportability” and to accept or reject applications for relief from deportation.
When appeals have been exhausted in immigration court, aliens can seek judicial review in the federal court