Pandit v. Lynch, No. 15-1149 (1st Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseThe Pandits, citizens of India, have lived in the U.S. for 21 years. They reside in Massachusetts with their 19-year-old daughter, Pooja, who is a U.S. citizen. In 2009, DHS began removal proceedings on the grounds that they had arrived without a valid entry document and were present in the U.S. without being "admitted," 8 U.S.C. 1182(a). The Pandits sought cancellation of removal, 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b), arguing that they had been physically present for a continuous period of not less than 10 years immediately preceding; were of good moral character during such period; had not been convicted of a qualifying offense; and that removal would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to their daughter. They argued that that Pooja could not live in the U.S. without her parents and would be forced to move to India if they were deported, where she "would face difficulties acclimating to the different educational and cultural system." In 2013, the IJ denied their application, finding they had not shown "exceptional and extremely unusual hardship" and that, even if they met all of the statutory criteria, they would not "merit a favorable exercise of discretion" because they had "engaged in fraud repeatedly in order to gain immigration benefits." Each had entered into (separate) fraudulent marriages, and a friend had filed a fraudulent labor certification on their behalf. The First Circuit affirmed the BIA’s refusal to re-open proceedings for consideration of Pooja’s medical problems.
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