Supreme Court Hears Transgender Migrant’s Claim of Procedural Unfairness
The Supreme Court seemed resistant to the Biden administration arguments Jan. 17 that could lead to the deportation of a transgender illegal alien from Guatemala seeking asylum.
The issue is whether noncitizens have to petition the Board of Immigration Appeals to reconsider its alleged errors before they ask federal courts of appeals for review. Those courts of appeals are split on the issue and “the Supreme Court’s answer could significantly impact noncitizens facing deportation and the immigration courts tasked with hearing their pleas for relief,” according to a SCOTUSblog summary.
The case is Santos-Zacaria v. Garland, court file 21-1436.
The U.S. government tried to deport Leon Santos-Zacaria, 34, a Guatemalan citizen who was born male but identifies as a woman and uses the first name Estrella in everyday life. Santos-Zacaria entered the United States illegally at least twice and was removed to Guatemala in 2008 and 2012. He came back to the United States in 2018 and, after being detained, applied for something called withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and for sanctuary under the Convention Against Torture….