Federal Agency Decisions
Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB), each with a plain-English summary, the law it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Matter of C—
Deportation appeal rejected after review of membership evidence and witness statements
A Russian national who had lived in the United States since 1921 appealed a deportation order based on alleged Communist Party membership after entry. Following a court remand, the Board reviewed whether his membership had been voluntary and meaningful. It relied on witness testimony about his…
Matter of PAWA Plane No. 715
Repeated passenger form errors support $270 in fines
PAWA submitted incomplete or incorrect arrival forms for 27 passengers on two flights into Honolulu. The district director imposed a $10 fine for each passenger, totaling $270. PAWA argued that it should have been given a chance to correct the clerical errors during inspection. The Board held that…
Matter of P—
Later recommendation against deportation did not prevent removal
The respondent faced deportation after two disorderly conduct convictions that the parties agreed involved moral turpitude. A court vacated one conviction after a coram nobis petition, but the respondent pleaded guilty again at the new hearing and obtained a recommendation against deportation. The…
Matter of B—
Resentencing did not make a late recommendation effective
The respondent appealed a deportation order based on a conviction for receiving stolen property. The sentencing court later vacated the judgment, sentenced him again, and recommended against deportation. The Board found that the sole reason for vacating and reentering the judgment was to obtain a…
Matter of C——
Adjustment denied as a matter of discretion after visa refusals
A German applicant had been refused an immigrant visa twice by the American consulate in Frankfurt. She later obtained a visitor visa from the consulate in Tijuana, stating that she intended to visit a friend at an address the Service found fictitious. She entered the United States and married a…
Matter of F——
Return entry defeated pending adjustment application
An English treaty trader applied to become a permanent resident after entering the United States as a temporary visitor. She then traveled to England before her application was decided and returned as a treaty trader while intending to continue the pending application. The district director…
Matter of R—
Civil rights restoration did not satisfy the pardon rule
The respondent faced deportation based on two convictions that the order to show cause treated as crimes involving moral turpitude. A special inquiry officer ended the case after finding that a Wisconsin governor's restoration of civil rights counted as a full and unconditional pardon. The Board…
Matter of SS. Yarmouth
Carrier's $1,000 stowaway fine set aside
Immigration officials imposed a $1,000 fine on the Eastern Shipping Company for allegedly failing to detain a stowaway aboard the SS. Yarmouth before inspection. The alleged stowaway said he had arrived on that vessel, but the master and crew submitted affidavits contradicting his account. The…
Matter of P—C—
Court record identified heroin in narcotics conviction
An immigration officer appealed the termination of deportation proceedings against a person convicted in New York of possessing an unspecified narcotic drug. The Board examined an arresting officer's affidavit and a laboratory report that identified the drug as heroin. It held that New York…
Matter of A——
Crewman's adjustment denial upheld after return entry
A Greek crewman deserted his ship in 1958 and sought permanent residence after marrying a U.S. citizen. His first application was denied, and he left the country. On returning as a crewman in 1959, he filed another application within days. The Regional Commissioner found that he had not established…
Matter of C—
Marriage before entry invalidated preference visa
The respondent received a third preference immigrant visa as the unmarried minor child of a permanent resident, then married before entering the United States. The Board held that she no longer had the status required by that visa when she entered, making her deportable regardless of whether she…
Matter of N—
California Youth Authority commitment was not a sentence to confinement
The respondent was convicted of attempted robbery and committed to the California Youth Authority. The Service argued that this amounted to a sentence to confinement of a year or more under the charged deportation ground. The Board held that the court had committed him for training and treatment…
Matter of D—
Petty offense exemption did not bar deportation
The respondent received a suspended one-year sentence for a California forgery conviction and spent three months in county jail as a condition of probation. The special inquiry officer certified the deportation order to the Board after considering whether a petty offense exemption might apply. The…
Matter of C——
Deportation order upheld after disputed entry and Communist Party membership
The respondent entered the United States in 1926, abandoned his residence in 1931, returned without lawful admission in 1932, and obtained an immigrant visa after a brief trip to Canada in 1940. The Board found that he had voluntarily belonged to the Communist Party between 1927 and 1938. It held…
Matter of R——
Wartime illness did not prove mental defect at entry
The respondent entered the United States in 1950 after surviving Nazi persecution and a period of hospitalization in Rome. The Service alleged that he had been excludable at entry because of a mental defect. Public Health Service physicians supported that charge using records, while two…
Matter of L——
Two hours of work did not establish commuter status
A Canadian applicant sought to enter the United States as a returning commuter after holding a border crossing card. She had worked in the United States for only two hours during the ten months after her initial admission. The Board held that this brief employment had never established the stable…
Matter of M/V Arnfinn Stange
Vessel agents owed a detention duty without separate notice
A crewman left the M/V Arnfinn Stange after an immigration officer refused him permission to land. The vessel's agents appealed a fine, arguing that they had not received the notice needed to detain him. The Board held that the statute itself required detention until a landing permit was issued…
Matter of G——
Crewman's adjustment denial upheld after reconsideration
A Greek crewman sought permanent residence after returning to the United States in March 1959. The Regional Commissioner reconsidered an earlier dismissal of his appeal and agreed that a prior deportability finding did not automatically bar his application under the cited regulation. The…
Matter of W——
Polish adoption did not satisfy immigration custody and residence requirements
An Illinois citizen sought preference visa status for his two adopted sons, who remained in Poland. A Polish court had granted the adoption and waived a six month residence requirement before adoption. The Board held that the foreign court could not waive the separate immigration law requirements…
Matter of W——
Deportation case remanded for evidence about onset of illness
The respondent entered the United States as a permanent resident in 1957 and was committed to a state hospital at public expense in 1959. A special inquiry officer terminated deportation proceedings after accepting testimony from the respondent and his wife that his mental illness had not existed…
Matter of K——
Adjustment granted to spouse of Refugee Relief Act immigrant
A Greek visitor married a permanent resident who had entered under the Refugee Relief Act of 1953. Her husband had been single when he entered the United States, so the question was whether she could receive the special nonquota status created by a 1959 law even though their marriage came later…
Matter of D——
Petition for special orphan visa denied
A U.S. citizen aunt petitioned for a special visa for her adopted niece, who lived in Poland with her mother and stepfather. The Regional Commissioner held that the child did not meet the 1957 law's definition of an eligible orphan because immigration law counted the stepfather as a parent. The…
Matter of B——
Crewman's adjustment application denied
A Greek crewman left his vessel in New Orleans and traveled to New York, where he married a U.S. citizen three days later. He sought permanent residence through adjustment of status. The Regional Commissioner found that his actions and conflicting sworn accounts did not establish that he had…
Matter of C——
Prior deportation remained effective after conviction vacated
The respondent was deported in 1955 after two criminal convictions and returned to the United States without inspection in 1956. A New York court later vacated one conviction because he had lacked counsel. The Board treated that conviction as void from the outset for future purposes, but held that…
Matter of S——
Father's wartime oath barred daughter's citizenship claim
The applicant was born in Canada in 1924 and claimed U.S. citizenship through her father, who had been born in the United States. Her father, also a British national, swore allegiance to the British Crown when he joined the Canadian Army in 1917. The Regional Commissioner held that wartime…
Matter of V——D——B——
Pre-1957 visa could not receive later waivers
A Dutch applicant sought admission using an immigrant visa issued in 1954. The Board found that he had concealed two Dutch convictions for receiving stolen property when applying for the visa. It held that waivers enacted in September 1957 could not retroactively correct a visa issued before that…
Matter of A——D——L——
Board terminated deportation and denied reopening
A man born in China challenged a deportation order that treated him as an immigrant without a visa. His father and grandfather had been recognized as citizens after the grandfather's naturalization in Hawaii, and the respondent had received a United States passport and entered as a citizen. The…
Matter of L——F——Y——
Lawful admission record dated to 1921 entry
The applicant first entered the United States in 1921, claiming citizenship through a man he later admitted was not his father. The district director granted registry under section 249 but dated the lawful admission record to the 1959 approval, reasoning that a 1921 date would leave later entries…
Matter of R——
Prior admission did not bar a new registry record
The applicant was lawfully admitted for permanent residence in 1928, but reentered in 1954 by falsely claiming U.S. citizenship and without inspection. The district director granted a new registry record dated May 25, 1959. On review, the Assistant Commissioner held that the unlawful reentry had…
Matter of C——
Arc welder did not qualify for first preference status
An aluminum window and door manufacturer petitioned for first preference visa status for an experienced electric welder from Italy. The district director denied the petition, finding that the job did not require the degree of skill contemplated by the statute. The Regional Commissioner agreed that…
Matter of C——
Married adult stepdaughter qualified for visa preference
A naturalized U.S. citizen petitioned for fourth preference visa status for his married, 45-year-old stepdaughter. He had married her mother when she was younger than eight. The Board held that a stepparent relationship validly formed before the child turned 18 continues after the child becomes an…
Matter of C——
Prior court finding established deportability
A federal court revoked the respondent's citizenship after finding that he had been an active Communist Party member from 1930 to 1936. The Board held that this finding was essential to the denaturalization judgment and could not be relitigated in the deportation case. It found no adequate proof of…
Matter of S——
Visitor's unauthorized work supported deportation
A visitor from Poland began working soon after entering the United States for pleasure in March 1959. The Board held that accepting employment without permission violated the conditions of his visitor status and made him deportable. It found that a 1958 change in the regulations did not remove the…
Matter of J——
Insufficient proof of Communist Party membership ended deportation case
A woman who had lived in the United States since infancy faced deportation based on alleged Communist Party membership. The Board found the government's evidence insufficient: a witness's accounts conflicted, a bulletin entry could not reliably be tied to her, and selling a party newspaper did not…
Matter of Z——
Prior crewman violation barred permission to reapply
An Italian crewman deserted his ship after landing temporarily in New York and later was deported. He sought permission to reapply for admission so he could return to work at sea. The Regional Commissioner found that he had intended to desert when he arrived and had concealed that intent from the…
Matter of H——T——W——
Marriage evidence allowed voluntary departure
A Chinese national conceded deportability but appealed the denial of voluntary departure. The hearing officer had treated his 1943 marriage as bigamous because he had lived with another woman years earlier. The Board found that cohabitation, a shared name, a child, and the way others viewed the…
Matter of V——
Communist Party charge rejected but visa charge sustained
A Yugoslav crewman entered the United States in 1956 without an immigrant visa and later stayed after leaving his ship. He had belonged to the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, but the Board found that he joined to obtain enough wages and food and that his membership fell within the statutory…
Matter of M——
Tax fraud conspiracies supported deportation
An Italian national appealed a deportation order based on two federal convictions for conspiracy to violate Internal Revenue laws. He argued that the deportation hearing was unfair while a separate criminal case was pending, that the evidence did not identify him as the person convicted, and that…
Matter of F——
Rabbi's overseas teaching preserved residence
An ordained rabbi taught at a seminary in Israel from July 1955 to July 1956 and applied to preserve his U.S. residence for naturalization. A New York corporation that raised funds for the seminary sent him abroad and paid him. The District Director held that the corporation was not a religious…
Matter of T——
A valid marriage defeated the deportation charge
A woman from Czechoslovakia entered the United States on a visa issued because she had married a U.S. citizen who was also her uncle. The special inquiry officer found her deportable, reasoning that their marriage was void under Pennsylvania law, though he rejected a separate fraud charge. The…
Matter of P——
Italian affiliation did not qualify children for visa preference
A permanent resident asked for preference visas for two children affiliated with him by Italian court decrees. He argued that affiliation was like legitimation. The Board found the children were not his natural or legitimated children and that affiliation resembled adoption. A 1959 amendment…
Matter of T——
Hospital records supported a deportation finding
An Italian national challenged a deportation order based on narcotic drug addiction. He asserted possible citizenship through his father and objected to hospital records containing opinions and notes by medical staff. The Board found the record established his alienage and held that the certified…
Matter of M——J——
Federal research fellowship preserved naturalization residence
A permanent resident sought to preserve his U.S. residence for naturalization while studying in England on a Public Health Service research fellowship. The district director granted the application and certified it for review. The Acting Regional Commissioner found that the fellowship occupied the…
Matter of P——
Youth corrections commitment counted as a final conviction
A Belgian citizen born in Russia was convicted of petty larceny and of transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines. The second conviction led to a commitment under the Federal Youth Corrections Act. After reconsidering the case, the special inquiry officer again ordered deportation and…
Matter of C——
Citizenship retained by entering before age 25
The appellant acquired United States citizenship at birth in Italy and later acquired Italian nationality when his father regained it. The 1940 nationality law required him to establish residence in the United States before age 23 to retain citizenship. He was still 19 when the 1952 Immigration and…
Matter of DeN——
Skilled tailor qualified for first preference visa
A clothing retailer petitioned for first preference visa status for an Italian tailor who would alter ready-made men's suits and coats. The district director denied the petition because the proposed work did not appear to require the skill needed for first preference status. The Regional…
Matter of C——P——
Later burglary sentence supported deportation
A Mexican citizen pleaded guilty to two counts of second degree burglary after entering the United States for permanent residence. A California court first suspended imposition of sentence and placed him on probation. Four years later, after finding a probation violation, the court imposed a state…
Matter of DeG—— et al.
Attorney General disallowed advance exclusion waivers
Four Mexican applicants were found excludable on grounds including prostitution, visa fraud, lack of a valid visa, and a conviction involving moral turpitude. The Board had granted advance waivers under sections 5 and 7 of a 1957 law to ease their return to family in the United States. The…
Matter of T——
Permanent departure defeated returning resident status
A German citizen admitted as a permanent resident left the United States intending to live permanently in Germany with his family. He later changed his mind and returned on a visa issued to a returning resident. The Board held that his original intent to move abroad meant he had not made a…
Matter of C——
Agricultural worker could not change nonimmigrant status
A Mexican agricultural worker sought to change his status to industrial trainee. The Regional Commissioner held that admission under the Agricultural Act of 1949 did not give him a nonimmigrant classification under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Section 248 allowed changes only for people…
Matter of PAA Plane ‘Flight 896/10’
Expired passport sustained carrier fine
Pan American World Airways brought a passenger through Honolulu for transit without a visa. She had an expired New Zealand passport and no valid U.S. visa. The carrier argued that her passport showed her identity and should allow her to enter England, and that her onward travel satisfied the…
Matter of T——
Annulled marriage did not establish visa fraud
An Italian citizen entered the United States on a nonquota visa based on marriage to a U.S. citizen. After the marriage was annulled, the government first charged marriage related visa fraud, but those proceedings were terminated. A second proceeding alleged that he had been inadmissible because…
Matter of C——O——
Two-year maximum ruled out petty-offense relief
A Mexican resident was convicted in Texas of theft under $50 and received two months in jail. After he returned to the United States, an immigration officer sought his deportation based on that conviction. A special inquiry officer ended the proceedings, treating the theft as a petty offense…
Matter of V——
Undocumented Navy entry did not qualify for adjustment
A Philippine citizen entered the United States as a Navy member in 1956 without entry documents or an inspection record. After marrying a U.S. citizen, he sought adjustment to permanent resident status. A district director had granted a retroactive document waiver and approved the application. On…
Matter of Z—— and R——
Exchange visitors granted treaty merchant status
Two Italian exchange visitors were training as electronic engineers and sought to work for an Italian company's U.S. subsidiary as treaty merchant employees. The Assistant Commissioner found that their engineering skills were essential to the company's substantial trade and that they intended to…
Matter of O——
Late waiver rehearing denied after preexamination deadline
The respondent sought a waiver under a 1957 law after earlier deportation proceedings. A special inquiry officer denied the waiver on June 30, 1959, but allowed voluntary departure and certified the case to the Board. The respondent then moved for rehearing and reconsideration. The Board held that…
Matter of C——G——
Prior overstay and stowaway entry defeated crewman application
A Chilean man sought permission to reapply for U.S. admission as a crewman after deportation. He had overstayed a prior crewman admission and was deported, then tried to enter as a stowaway to seek work and was deported again. The Regional Commissioner found that his past conduct did not show he…
Matter of V——B——
False identity details made an immigrant visa invalid
A Guatemalan man entered the United States with an immigrant visa obtained after stating that he was born in Mexico, was a Mexican citizen, and had always lived there. He later admitted those statements were false. The Board held that birthplace, citizenship, and prior residences were material…
Matter of F——
Foreign court martial conviction supported deportation
A Netherlands naval court martial convicted the respondent of looting and theft in 1947, before his last entry into the United States in 1952. An immigration officer later ordered his deportation because the convictions made him excludable at entry. The respondent argued that a foreign military…
Matter of N——
Malicious mischief records did not prove moral turpitude
A Polish resident had two Delaware convictions for malicious mischief, and a special inquiry officer ordered deportation on the theory that both crimes involved moral turpitude. The Board found that the Delaware law covered conduct that could involve moral turpitude and conduct that might not. The…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission, Board and Authority decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Authority at FLRA, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Review Board at Labor, and the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.