Mogeni v. Holder, No. 13-3597 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseIn 2002, Mogeni, a Kenyan citizen, entered the U.S. as a non-immigrant visitor. In 2003, Mogeni married Byers, a U.S. citizen. Byers filed an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative on Mogeni's behalf. The Department of Homeland Security denied the petition, finding that the marriage was a sham. Neither Byers nor Mogeni appealed. Byers and Mogeni divorced in 2004. In 2005, three months after his divorce from Byers, Mogeni married Gullie, another U.S. citizen, who filed an I-130 petition on Mogeni's behalf. Because the DHS previously found Mogeni had entered into a sham marriage to obtain an immigration benefit, the DHS denied the second I-130 petition. Mogeni appealed. Gatere, Mogeni's daughter from a previous marriage in Kenya, also filed an I-130 petition on Mogeni's behalf. In December 2006, the DHS initiated removal proceedings under, 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(1)(B). Mogeni appeared with the assistance of counsel and requested a continuance. From 2007 to 2012, an immigration judge granted Mogeni 12 continuances. The IJ rejected a thirteenth requested and ordered Mogeni to be removed. The Board of Immigration Appeals and Eighth Circuit affirmed.
Court Description: Petition for Review - Immigration. Denial of petitioner's thirteenth motion for a continuance was not an abuse of the IJ's discretion; the fact that petitioner had a pending I-30 petition did not weigh in favor of a continuance where it was unlikely that the petition would be approved given the fact that petitioner had been found to have entered into a sham marriage.
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