The Ninth Circuit has determined that 8 U.S.C. § 1228, which governs expedited removal proceedings for noncitizens convicted of committing aggravated felonies, and through which non-citizens can request reasonable fear interviews, explicitly provides that non-citizens have the privilege of being represented, at no expense to the government, by counsel. As such, the Immigration Judge erred by not getting a waiver of the petitioner’s right to counsel during the review of a negative reasonable fear determination. The petitioner was not required to show prejudice from the violation of his statutory right to counsel to prevail on his due process claim.
The full text of Zuniga v. Barr can be found here:
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/08/20/16-72982.pdf
An amended opinion, published on December 26, 2019, can be found here:
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/12/26/16-72982.pdf