Hernandez-Ortiz v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
777 F.2d 509 (1985)
- Written by Mary Katherine Cunningham, JD
Facts
Adela Hernandez-Ortiz (defendant) first entered the United States from El Salvador in September 1977, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (plaintiff) began deportation proceedings. In August 1980, the immigration judge (IJ) found Hernandez deportable, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed the IJ decision in October 1982. Before Hernandez could appeal to the Fifth Circuit, the INS erroneously deported Hernandez to El Salvador. Although the United States government offered to rectify the error by paying for her travel, Salvadoran authorities blocked Hernandez’s departure. Hernandez only left El Salvador after bribing an official at the airport. After Hernandez finally re-entered the United States in November 1982, she applied for political asylum. In her affidavit seeking asylum, Hernandez asserted that after the IJ decision, Salvadoran security forces murdered her brother and sister-in-law in November 1980. Before she was erroneously deported in October 1982, Hernandez asserted that Salvadoran security forces robbed goods from her grandparents’ general store. Hernandez asserted that her brother-in-law and his wife were kidnapped and threatened by Salvadoran security forces in June 1983. Hernandez asserted that the Salvador authorities now regarded her as a traitor for returning to the United States after the improper deportation. In July 1983, Hernandez submitted a motion for reopening of her deportation proceedings and renewed her application for asylum. The BIA denied her motion, concluding that her fears were merely about political upheaval and random violence in El Salvador and that any threat Hernandez faced was not related to her political opinion. Hernandez appealed to the Ninth Circuit, arguing the BIA incorrectly denied her motion to reopen her deportation proceedings.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Reinhardt, J.)
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