By: Derek Hawkins//September 12, 2016//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Shmael Isaac Turkhan v. Loretta E. Lynch
Case No.: 14-3456; 15-1378
Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and BAUER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges
Focus: Immigration – Court Error
Appellant only entitled to discretionary relief.
“The government has continued to pursue this case vigorously despite the fact that, several years ago, it announced a policy of not seeking mandatory punishment against certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders such as Turkhan. See Memorandum from Attorney General Eric Holder to the United States Attorneys and Assistant Attorney for the Criminal Division (Aug. 12, 2013). Perhaps if the Department allows Turkhan another chance to apply for discretionary relief, things might turn out differently. Perhaps, unlike 23 years ago, Turkhan’s lawyer might not inadvertently fail to secure an interpreter, and Turkhan’s sister and mother will be able to testify on his behalf. Perhaps the immigration judge, who gave the “boiler plate” affidavits of these witnesses little weight, will find their testimony persuasive. Turkhan has also contended that the immigration judge in his section 212(c) decision misinterpreted Turkhan’s prison records in finding that a record of his participation in a drug treatment program contradicted (and rendered not credible) his testimony that he never used drugs. But a closer look reveals that there was no such inconsistency. What Turkhan said was that he worked in that program; he was not a patient. Perhaps that misunderstanding can be resolved in a new proceeding. Perhaps, after 26 years of law-abiding life in the United States, the executive authorities might see fit to give him a chance to win the right to stay rather than live under a constant risk of being dropped back into a country he has not known since he was a teenager.”
Petition denied