The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) recently clarified that helping your own child enter the country unlawfully violates the good moral character statute and ruins your chances for cancellation of removal, even if your goal was simply to reunite your family.
Background
In this case, the parent, who is a foreign national, paid a smuggler to bring their minor child to the U.S.-Mexico border so the family could be together again. The child had no lawful basis to enter and arrived through the desert. After arriving, the child applied for asylum.
The immigration judge predetermined the parent’s cancellation of removal case, finding he could not prove the good moral character required by law because he had assisted in his child’s unlawful entry. On appeal, the parent said he only meant for the child to enter legally. It found that claim unsupported given how the crossing actually happened, and dismissed the appeal.
Why It Matters
The Board’s reasoning closely follows the statutory framework. INA § 101(f)(3) precludes a finding of good moral character for individuals described under the alien smuggling provision at INA § 212(a)(6)(E)(i), and this bar applies irrespective of whether the individual is deemed inadmissible under that section. The Board reaffirmed that this provision encompasses assistance to another person “to enter or try to enter” the United States, regardless of whether that person is ultimately admitted or subsequently seeks asylum.
The existence of a parent-child relationship did not affect the application of the smuggling bar. Parental status does not exempt an individual from this statutory bar, and once it applies, there is no discretionary assessment of intent or mitigating circumstances. Good moral character is a threshold requirement for cancellation of removal; failure to satisfy this requirement terminates eligibility, irrespective of the underlying circumstances.
The takeaway is that paying to bring a family member across the border, even solely for reunification, completely bars a person from seeking cancellation of removal. The intention to eventually regularize the child’s status or to make a later asylum claim will not overcome the obstacle once smuggling has taken place.
As always, ILBSG actively monitors ongoing U.S. immigration news. If you have questions about any U.S. immigration related issue, contact us. Working with an experienced attorney ensures you get the right advice based on the most recent laws. In an ever-evolving immigration policy landscape, it’s particularly critical you get the right advice.