Balogun v. Department of Homeland Security

369 F. App'x 309
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMarch 18, 2010
Docket09-1021-ag
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 369 F. App'x 309 (Balogun v. Department of Homeland Security) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Balogun v. Department of Homeland Security, 369 F. App'x 309 (2d Cir. 2010).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Petitioner Manasse Akint Balogun, a native and citizen of Ivory Coast, seeks review of a February 11, 2009 order of the BIA, which dismissed his appeal and affirmed the order of Immigration Judge (“IJ”) Margaret R. Reichenberg, which found him removable as charged and denied his application for adjustment of status and a waiver of inadmissibility. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history of the case, which we reference only as necessary to explain our decision.

Where, as here, the BIA adopts the decision of the IJ and supplements the IJ’s decision, we review the decision of the IJ as supplemented by the BIA. See Yan Chen v. Gonzales, 417 F.3d 268, 271 (2d Cir.2005). The applicable standards of review are well-established. See Corovic v. Mukasey, 519 F.3d 90, 95 (2d Cir.2008); Salimatou Bah v. Mukasey, 529 F.3d 99, 100 (2d Cir.2008).

Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s finding that Balogun made material misrepresentations during previous asylum proceedings before another IJ, rendering him inadmissible and hence ineligible for an adjustment of status. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1182(a)(6)(C)®; 1255(i)(2)(A); see also Mora v. Mukasey, 550 F.3d 231, 234 (2d Cir.2008). Balogun’s own testimony and an affidavit he submitted to the IJ indicate that he made “misrepresentations,” that a portion of his description of his involvement in a banned student movement in Ivory Coast “wasn’t true,” that he “lied to the justice” (referring to the IJ in his asylum proceedings), and that “the basic story stated [in his asylum application] ... contained] untruths.” The Petitioner’s attempt to suggest on appeal that he may have used the word “lie” to “include statements that were true but potentially misleading” is belied by his own testimony regarding the nature of his misrepresentations.

Moreover, we are not persuaded by Bal-ogun’s contentions that the IJ and BIA failed to apply the correct legal standard for materiality or explain why his misrepresentations were material. The BIA expressly referenced this Court’s decision in Emokah v. Mukasey, 523 F.3d 110 (2d Cir.2008), which articulated that standard, see id. at 117 (“[A] concealment or misrepresentation is material if it has a natural tendency to influence or was capable of influencing, the decision of the decision-making body to which it was addressed.” (internal quotation marks omitted)). And both the IJ and BIA’s discussions of Balo-gun’s misrepresentations noted his admission that those misrepresentations were made for the purpose of improving his chances of success in his asylum application. Indeed, Balogun’s misrepresentations regarding his importance in the national student group and as to whether he was specifically targeted by the police for arrest spoke directly to his claim of persecution. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(a)(42)(A), 1158(b)(1)(B)®; see also Falaja v. Gonzales, 418 F.3d 889, 899 (8th Cir.2005) (finding materiality where misrepresentations “sp[oke] directly to [the petitioner’s] claim of religious persecution”).

Balogun also contends that he was denied due process during his immigration proceedings, because the IJ and BIA failed *312 to obtain the complete transcript of his asylum proceedings in order to determine the extent of his misrepresentations, because he was never formally charged as being inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(C)(i), and because IJ Chase, previously assigned to his case, coerced him into admitting that he had lied and IJ Reichenberg thereafter denied him the opportunity to fully testify regarding his contention that his misrepresentations were not material.

As Balogun notes, “[a]ll aliens within the United States, ‘whether their presence here is lawful, unlawful, temporary, or permanent,’ are entitled to procedural fairness.” Ali v. Mukasey, 529 F.3d 478, 490 (2d Cir.2008) (quoting Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 693, 121 S.Ct. 2491, 150 L.Ed.2d 653 (2001)). “At a minimum, [an alien] ‘must be afforded the opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner.’ ” Id. (quoting Burger v. Gonzales, 498 F.3d 131, 134 (2d Cir.2007)). “To establish a violation of due process, an alien must show ‘that [he] was denied a full and fair opportunity to present [his] claims’ or ‘that the IJ or BIA otherwise deprived [him] of fundamental fairness.’ ” Burger, 498 F.3d at 134 (quoting Xiao Ji Chen v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 434 F.3d 144, 155 (2d Cir.2006), rehg granted, vacated on other grounds by Xiao Ji Chen v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 471 F.3d 315 (2d Cir.2006)). A petitioner must also show prejudice, see Garcia-Villeda v. Mukasey, 531 F.3d 141, 149 (2d Cir.2008), which in turn requires a showing that but for the alleged constitutional violation, the result in his case might have been different, United States v. Fernandez-Antonia, 278 F.3d 150, 159-60 (2d Cir.2002).

Balogun’s claim that the failure of the IJ and BIA to review the complete transcript of his 1997 asylum proceedings constitutes a due process violation was not raised below. Accordingly, he has not exhausted his administrative remedies with respect to that claim, and we lack jurisdiction to consider it. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1); Singh v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Security, 526 F.3d 72 (2d Cir.2008) (refusing to consider due process claim not raised before the BIA). This portion of Balogun’s petition must be dismissed.

Meanwhile, Balogun’s argument that the IJ and BIA should not have considered his material misrepresentations as a ground for inadmissibility because he was never formally charged on the basis of those misrepresentations is foreclosed by our previous decision in

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Related

Zadvydas v. Davis
533 U.S. 678 (Supreme Court, 2001)

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Bluebook (online)
369 F. App'x 309, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/balogun-v-department-of-homeland-security-ca2-2010.