Sherny Saroha v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Sherny Saroha (“Saroha”) petitions for review of the order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) upholding and adopting an immigration judge’s (“IJ’s”) determination that she is removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227 (a)(1)(A) for having made willful misrepresentations of material facts under 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(6)(C)(i). We deny the petition for review.

1. Saroha contends that the IJ applied an improper objective-person standard under § 1182(a)(6)(C)(i) in assessing whether her misrepresentations were “willful.” We review de novo the BIA’s determinations of purely legal questions. Castillo-Perez v. INS, 212 F.3d 518, 523 (9th Cir.2000). A willful misrepresentation under § 1182(a)(6)(C)(i) is “a voluntary and deliberate misstatement.” Espinoza-Espinoza v. INS, 554 F.2d 921, 925 (9th Cir.1977). For a misrepresentation to be willful, the party must have “knowledge of [its] falsity.” Forbes v. INS, 48 F.3d 439, 442 (9th Cir.1995).

Saroha contends that the IJ committed legal error by employing an objective test for willfulness, rather than the subjective standard mandated by § 1182(a)(6)(C)(i) and Forbes . The IJ was incorrect to state that the test for determining…