A daily digest of immigration-related federal court decisions from around the United States.
Immigration Litigation Update 8th Cir Denies Asylum to Nigerian Man | 8th Cir Denies Asylum to Nigerian Man |
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| Monday, 11 August 2008 | |||||
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Ezeagwu v. Mukasey, No. 07-1668, (8th Cir.) August 8, 2008 COLLOTON, Bye, Smith
The petitioner in Ezeagwu asked the Court to review the denial of his asylum, withholding and CAT claims as well as his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel by the courts below, and additionally, asked the court to remand his case back to the BIA for the taking of new evidence pursuant to 28 § USC 2347(c). The Eight Circuit held that substantial evidence supported the lower courts’ findings of adverse credibility where there were inconsistencies between Ezeagwu’s written and in-court statements, including his testimony that he “forgot” about one episode of detention and abuse at the hands of the Nigerian State Security Services (SSS) as well as confusing dates of detention. Given these inconsistencies, the Court found it permissible for the BIA to find the lack of corroborating evidence without explanations as to why it was not obtainable to further defeat Ezeagwu’s claim. The Court also rejected Ezeagwu’s contention that the BIA violated his right to due process in summarily dismissing his ineffective assistance of counsel claim, as it found that the BIA adequately addressed the claim to conclude that Ezeagwu failed to meet the requirements under Matter of Lozada. Last, the Court declined to remand the case back to the BIA for it to take new evidence submitted by Ezeagwu pursuant to 28 § USC 2347(c), holding that 8 USC § 1252(a)(1) precludes the federal courts of appeals from taking new evidence under the former section.
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