Gonzalez-Caraveo v. Sessions

The Ninth Circuit denied a petition for review of the BIA's denial of petitioners' claim for relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The panel held that it had jurisdiction to review petitioners' administrative closure claim, because the Avetisyan factors, rooted in the regulatory grant of authority to IJs and the BIA, provided a sufficiently meaningful standard against which to review IJ and BIA decisions regarding administrative closure. The panel noted that, although remand would usually be appropriate where the IJ and BIA did not conduct an independent review of a request for administrative closure, petitioners here have not argued or shown how they were eligible for administrative closure under the Avetisyan factors. Furthermore, petitioners had no pending petitions or other requests for immigration relief that might make remand necessary. Finally, the panel held that substantial evidence supported the IJ and BIA's decision denying CAT relief. View "Gonzalez-Caraveo v. Sessions" on Justia Law