02/05/2012
This week, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) overruled Matter of
Gutierrez 21 I&N Dec. 479 (BIA 1996) to allow an Immigration Judge or the
Board to administratively close proceedings even if a party opposes it. Now,
a person requesting administrative closure may succeed without agreement
from the government attorney. In Matter of Avetisyan, 25 I&N Dec. 688 (BIA
2012), the Board identified factors for the adjudicator to determine whether
to close a case. Factors include, but are not limited to: the reason for
administrative closure; the basis for opposition; respondent's likelihood of
prevailing in another pending matter; the anticipated duration of the
closure; the extent either party is contributing to delays; and, the
expected outcome when the case is recalendared. I'm not sure how often Immigration Judges will actually do this, but I have seen it done and reversed on appeal so it is nice to see Immigration Judges are now able to actually make the decision, rather than ICE trial counsel.
http://www.lexisnexis.com/community/immigration-law/blogs/inside/archive/2012/01/31/matter-of-avetisyan-id-3740-25-i-amp-n-dec-688-bia-2012.aspx
Matter of AVETISYAN, ID 3740, 25 I&N Dec. 688 (BIA 2012) - (1) Pursuant to the authority delegated by the Attorney General and the responsibility to exercise that authority with independent judgment and discretion, the Immigration Judges and the Board
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