Lipoi Alaelua v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

The only issue in this appeal is how we review a Board of Immigration Appeals affir-mance which adopts the decision of the immigration judge, instead of articulating the Board’s reasons in its own words.

FACTS

Alaelua came to the United States from Western Samoa in 1978, when he was 21. He was admitted as a lawful permanent resident. In 1987, he was convicted of selling heroin five times on five separate dates during May of 1986. Despite the apparent seriousness of the conviction, he was sentenced only to probation and restitution of $880, the money which the undercover agent paid him for the narcotics. After this criminal conviction, he was ordered to show cause why he should not be deported. He conceded de-portability, and applied for section 212(c) relief under 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (c).

The Immigration Judge (IJ) who heard the evidence carefully recited the factors bearing upon this discretionary decision, then explained orally why he thought the better exercise of discretion in this particular case was to deny relief. Here is the critical portion of his oral decision:

On review, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) adopted the decision of the IJ. The BIA did not write its own…