Matter of Smriko

Sejid Smriko (plaintiff) came to the United States from Bosnia and Herzegovina as a refugee. After being in refugee status for one year, Smriko adjusted to permanent-resident status. However, Smriko was later convicted of multiple thefts, which constitute crimes of moral turpitude. As a result, removal proceedings were initiated. An immigration judge ordered Smriko removed, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed. The case was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which remanded the case to the BIA to determine whether Smriko retained refugee status after adjusting to lawful-permanent-resident status. Smriko argued that he could not be removed from the United States due to his convictions, because § 207(c)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the act) provided that a refugee’s status could be terminated by the attorney general if the attorney general determined that an applicant was not actually a refugee when admitted. Because the attorney general had not terminated Smriko’s refugee status under § 207(c)(4), Smriko argued, no other section of the act permitted termination and he could not be removed due to his crimes. Contrary to Smriko’s assertion, § 209 of the act provided that refugees who pursued adjustment of status were to be reinspected for admission and could be subject to removal even if refugee status had not been terminated by the attorney general. Smriko also argued that being removed from the United States would violate the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (the convention) despite the fact that the convention’s protections, such as not returning any foreign national to a country of persecution, were already included in removal proceedings. The convention also provided that its protections no longer applied if the circumstances that led to refugee status ceased to exist. Although Smriko could have sought asylum or withholding of removal, he chose not to, acknowledging that he did not continue to have a well-founded fear of future persecution if he returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina.