Biwot

BACKGROUND

Biwot, a citizen of Kenya, came to the United States on a non-immigrant student visa in 1996 after winning a full schol- arship to attend Northwest College in Kirkland, Washington. BIWOT v. GONZALES 4181 In 1999, while he was still a student, Biwot was involved in a dormitory brawl that resulted in a conviction for third- degree assault. The conviction prompted the former Immigra- tion and Naturalization Service (“INS”) to charge Biwot with failure to maintain his student status.

At his first removal hearing, on July 3, 2002, Biwot appeared without counsel. When Biwot stated that he wanted to obtain free representation, the IJ provided him with a list of legal service providers and continued the hearing until July 9, 2002. On the day of the first hearing, Biwot was transferred from one detention facility to another, which made it difficult for him to contact the lawyers on the list. Biwot’s efforts to find an attorney were further frustrated because the following day was Thursday, July 4, a national holiday. This quirk of timing left Biwot with only two business days—Friday, July 5, and Monday, July 8—to obtain an attorney before the next…