Hammad v. Holder, No. 07-72370, a petition for review of the BIA's determination that petitioner was not entitled to permanent resident status. The Ninth Circuit denied the petition, on the grounds that 1) 8 U.S.C. section 1186a(b) puts the burden of proof on the government to prove that his marriage was fraudulent; 2) given the numerous inconsistencies in his testimony, petitioner failed to carry his burden to prove that his marriage was bona fide; and 3) because petitioner's extreme hardship argument was based on the effect his removal would have on a family from his second marriage, which did not exist during his two-year conditional resident status, he did not qualify for a waiver on that ground.
As the court wrote: "In 1995, Ivad Mohammed Hammad, a Palestinian immigrant to the United States, was granted permanent resident status on a conditional basis, based on a petition filed by his U.S. citizen wife. His permanent resident status lapsed when his wife admitted to Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials that she had entered into the marriage for a fee, and withdrew her support of his petition to remove the condition on his residency. Now remarried, Hammad appeals a determination by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that he is not entitled to permanent resident status. Because the BIA's determination was supported by substantial evidence, we deny his petition."
Related Resources
- Full Text of Hammad v. Holder, No. 07-72370