Consuelo Osuna De Gallardo v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Petitioner Consuelo Osuna de Gallardo overstayed her student visa and was subject to deportation. Her application under 8 U.S.C. § 1254 (a) for suspension of deportation was denied by the immigration judge, and the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed that decision. The immigration judge determined that Mrs. Gallardo’s three and a half month vacation in Honduras and Mexico interrupted the seven year period of continuous physical presence in the United States required for suspension of deportation, thereby disqualifying her for that discretionary relief. We conclude that the immigration judge and the Board failed to apply the correct standard for determining whether a departure from the United States is “meaningfully interruptive” of an alien’s presence in this country for purposes of precluding suspension of deportation. Therefore, we reverse.

To be eligible for discretionary suspension of deportation an alien must establish: (1) continuous physical presence in the United States for at least seven years immediately preceding the date of the application for suspension of deportation; (2) good moral character; and (3) extreme hardship to the alien or the alien’s parent, spouse, or…