BIA Finds FBI Letterhead Memorandum Warrants Significant Weight in Bond Proceedings

The Board of Immigration Appeals has determined that an FBI Letterhead Memorandum indicating that a respondent is a potential national security risk warrants significant weight in bond proceedings. The Board sustained DHS’s appeal, vacated the Immigration Judge’s bond order, and ordered the respondent detained without bond.

The Board explained that dangerousness determinations in bond proceedings may consider national security concerns and need not be limited to evidence of prior criminal conduct. The Board also rejected the respondent’s argument that the FBI memorandum was inherently unreliable because it was unsigned and unsworn, noting that immigration proceedings are not governed by the Federal Rules of Evidence and that government records prepared in the ordinary course of official duties carry strong indicia of reliability.

The full text of Matter of Shentu can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1438116/dl?inline

Board of Immigration Appeals Addresses National Security Concerns in the Context of a Bond Hearing

The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the denial of bond to an applicant who possessed a stolen, altered Syrian passport, which the Department of Homeland Security alleged had passed through the hands of ISIS.  The Board of Immigration Appeals found these allegations sufficient for a finding that the applicant had not established he poses a threat to national security, and therefore, is a danger to the community, despite the applicant's testimony that he did not know the passport had been stolen by terrorists and the lack of evidence linking him to a terrorist organization.

The full text of Matter of Fatahi can be found here: 

https://www.justice.gov/eoir/file/881776/download