Jeffrey S. Chase | Opinions/Analysis on Immigration Law

On May 22, The Board of Immigration Appeals issued a precedent decision, Matter of L-A-D-,1 rejecting a particular social group of “Mexican men with Schizoaffective Disorder.” The Board further held that “[i]n most cases, a particular social group based on a diagnosis alone will not be cognizable, considering the broad spectrum of severity and symptoms covered and th...

I just wanted to raise a quick point regarding the application of the Board of Immigration Appeal’s recent holding in Matter of A-H-D-, 29 I&N Dec. 642 (BIA 2026) within the Second Circuit.

In A-H-D-, the BIA overturned an Immigration Judge’s determination that the asylum seeker had suffered past persecution during his three day detention without c...

On October 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit published an opinion worthy of our interest. I will discuss the court’s opinion, the larger issue it highlights, and why it should give pause to Immigration Judges considering whether to pretermit CAT applications without a hearing pursuant to a new agency policy.

In Villalta Martinez v. Bondi,1 the...

On August 26, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued its decision in O.C.V. et. al. v. Bondi.1 This case was the direct appeal of the BIA’s precedent decision in Matter of M-R-M-S-2. In O.C.V., the Tenth Circuit thus vacated the Board’s precedent decision itself. In doing so the Tenth Circuit stated: “We agree with Petitioners ...

Introduction

In a decision that came as no surprise to anyone, the Board of Immigration Appeals (minus several excellent judges who were removed from their jobs by the current administration without explanation) issued a precedent decision on July 18 holding th...