Immigration – Asylum

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Oscar Guzman-Garcia v. Merrick B. Garland

Case No.: 20-1966

Officials: RIPPLE, HAMILTON, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Immigration – Asylum

Oscar Guzman-Garcia fled Mexico for the United States in 2006, fearing gang retaliation for witnessing the murder of his older brother. Unfortunately, he did not apply for asylum and withholding of removal until 2014— eight years after his unauthorized entry. As a result, the immigration judge (“IJ”) determined that Guzman-Garcia’s asylum application was untimely. The IJ found that he had not filed it within the one-year statutory deadline that begins upon entry to the United States or shown that he qualified for an exception. Alternatively, the IJ concluded that even if the application was timely, she would nonetheless exercise her discretion to deny it, given Guzman-Garcia’s criminal history and lack of rehabilitation evidence. The Board of Immigration Appeals (the “Board”) affirmed the decision on the untimely basis. On petition for review, Guzman-Garcia challenges only the IJ’s alternative basis for denial of his petition—the exercise of discretion to deny asylum. Because Guzman-Garcia has raised no arguments against the dispositive determination that his application is time-barred, we deny his petition for review of the Board’s decision to deny asylum.

Guzman-Garcia separately contests the Board’s denial of his petition for withholding of removal. The Board held that Guzman-Garcia had not established any of the requisite elements and affirmed the IJ’s decision. Because substantial evidence supports the Board’s denial of Guzman-Garcia’s petition for withholding of removal, we deny his petition for review.

Petition denied

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Derek A Hawkins is Associate Corporate Counsel, IP at Amazon.