Yasser Abdulrahim Shooshtary v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

Opinion by Chief Judge Wallace; Dissent by Judge Reinhardt.

Yasser Abdulrahim Shooshtary seeks review of the judgment of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) denying his application for relief from deportation based on extreme hardship. The Board had jurisdiction pursuant to 8 C.F.R. §§ 3.1 (B)(2), 242.21 (1992). We have jurisdiction over this timely application pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a). We deny the petition.

I

Shooshtary is a native of Iran and citizen of Great Britain. He lived in Great Britain, where his children attended grade school, until he came to the United States. His wife and 14-year-old twin children are legal permanent residents, but he is not. In June 1985, Shooshtary was convicted, upon a plea of guilty in federal district court, of conspiracy to defraud the government in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 . After learning of the conviction, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) sought to deport Shooshtary to Great Britain based upon the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1251 , which makes deportable any alien who “is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed within five years after the date of entry” and who is…

dissenting:

In finding Mr. Shooshtary ineligible for relief, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) gave short shrift to the key question: whether Mr. Shooshtary’s wife or children would experience extreme hardship if he were deported. Because the BIA’s decision fails adequately to consider the specific circumstances that underlie his claim, I dissent.

At his deportation hearing, Mr. Shooshtary testified that his family was very close, and that his children would be devastated if separated from him. Furthermore, he testified, his wife would not be able to keep up the payments on their home or otherwise support their family if he were deported. It was then stipulated that Mrs. Shooshtary would testify to the same effect. She also testified that, if the entire family were forced to leave the country, their fives would be ruined. Nevertheless, the Immigration Judge, with only the barest pretense of analyzing the individual circumstances involved, denied Mr. Shooshtary’s request for relief and ordered him deported to Great Britain. The BIA affirmed the immigration judge’s decision.

Mr. Shooshtary’s wife and children are now United States citizens and were lawful permanent residents…

39 F.3d 1049 Yasser Abdulrahim SHOOSHTARY, Petitioner, v. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent. No. 93-70032. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted July 15, 1994. Decided Nov. 8, 1994. Cindy M. Cipriani, Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich, San Diego, CA, for petitioner. William J. Howard, Office of Immigration Litigation, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for respondent. Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Before: WALLACE, Chief Judge, REINHARDT, Circuit Judge, and TANNER, * District Judge. Opinion by Chief Judge Wallace; Dissent by Judge Reinhardt. WALLACE, Chief Judge: 1 Yasser Abdulrahim Shooshtary seeks review of the judgment of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) denying his application for relief from deportation based on extreme hardship. The Board had jurisdiction pursuant to 8 C.F.R. Secs. 3.1(B)(2), 242.21 (1992). We have jurisdiction over this timely application pursuant to 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1105a(a). We deny the petition. 2 * Shooshtary is a native of Iran and citizen of Great Britain. He lived in Great Britain, where his children attended grade school, until he came to the United…