On June 16, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued two precedential decisions — Matter of A-B–, 28 I&N Dec. 307 (A.G. 2021) and Matter of L-E-A-, 28 I&N Dec. 304 (A.G. 2021) — vacating Trump-era attorney general decisions that were designed to restrict access to asylum. The new decisions instruct adjudicators to return to following precedent that pre-dated the Trump-era decisions by the same name. As a result, immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals are directed to follow pre-A-B- precedent, including Matter of A-R-C-G-.” In Matter of A-R-C-G-, 26 I&N Dec. 388 (BIA 2014), the Board of Immigration Appeals, or BIA, had found that “married women in Guatemala who are unable to leave their relationship” could constitute a cognizable particular social group. Adjudicators are also directed to follow the BIA decision in Matter of L-E-A-, 27 I&N Dec. 40 (BIA 2017), which had found that Mr. L-E-A-’s particular social group, “immediate family unit of the respondent’s father” was cognizable, but denied his asylum claim on nexus grounds.
This webinar will review the substance of the new decisions and discuss strategies on how to frame asylum cases in light of this new precedent. It will also discuss practice tips for cases that are on appeal.
