Paiz Cruz v. Holder

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Norma Paiz Cruz petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ affirmance of the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of Petitioner’s application for cancellation of removal. Reviewing the procedural due process claim de novo, Hamazaspyan v. Holder, 590 F.3d 744, 747 (9th Cir.2009), we grant the petition.

We have jurisdiction over colorable constitutional claims alleging a violation of procedural due process. Mendez-Castro v. Mukasey, 552 F.3d 975, 978 (9th Cir.2009). The government’s argument that we lack jurisdiction over claims alleging substantive due process violations is, therefore, inapposite.

The IJ permitted cross-examination of Petitioner before direct examination, disregarded evidence, prejudged issues, cut off relevant testimony, and failed to discuss (or, apparently, even to consider) relevant evidence. Considering “the cumulative effect of the several due process violations,” Zolotukhin v. Gonzales, 417 F.3d 1073, 1077 (9th Cir.2005), we hold that “the challenged proceeding was so fundamentally unfair that the alien was prevented from reasonably presenting [her] case,” Cruz Rendon v. Holder, 603 F.3d 1104, 1109 (9th Cir.2010)…