Robertson-Dewar v. Holder, Jr., No. 09-60847 (5th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, who was born in Jamaica and admitted into the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1993, petitioned for review of the BIA's decision that the IJ correctly determined that petitioner was removable. The BIA, however, did not rule on the issues of the government's delay in adjudicating petitioner's citizenship application or the government's interpretation of the applicable statutes because the BIA determined that it lacked jurisdiction over applications for naturalization. Petitioner first argued that the government should be equitably estopped from deporting him because he should have been granted citizenship based on the application his father filed before he turned eighteen. Petitioner's second argument was that the BIA erred in holding that it did not have jurisdiction to terminate the removal proceedings to give him an opportunity to pursue his citizenship claim. The court held that petitioner admitted that he was told in 1999 that he was not a citizen and neither he nor his father adequately followed up on the naturalization application. Accordingly, the court held that petitioner was not entitled to the remedy of equitable estoppel. The court held that the BIA did not have authority to look beneath or second-guess the Department of Homeland Security's determination that he was not eligible for naturalization. Therefore, the court agreed with the BIA's decision that it did not have jurisdiction to terminate petitioner's removal proceedings. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review.
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