Removal Proceedings

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Hair Rodriguez- Molinero V. Loretta E. Lynch

Case No: 15-1860

Officials: POSNER, MANION, and SYKES, Circuit Judges

Practice Areas: Removal Proceedings

Court reviews petition for deferral of removal of Mexican national due to likelihood of torture.

“If the Mexican government could be expected to protect the petitioner from the Zetas should he be returned to Mexico, the risk that he would be tortured or killed might be too slight to entitle him to deferral of removal. But the legal team representing our government in this case presented no evidence of this—indeed, it presented no evidence at all. And though the immigration judge remarked that the Mexican government was trying to control the drug gangs, it is success rather than effort that bears on the likelihood of the petitioner’s being killed or tortured if removed to Mexico. And finally the government made no effort to refute the expert’s testimony that the petitioner could not relocate to a safe part of Mexico—that no part is safe for him—a proposition that neither the immigration judge nor the BIA member challenged.”

Petition for review. Case Remanded to Board of Immigration Appeals

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.