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IMMIGRATION MAY 08, 2026 | The Indian Eye 47

Guevara, 20 I&N Dec.238 (1990) ability to try to suspect that an LPR based on the suspicion that a CIMT approach contingent on whether a
that an alien’s silence alone does not has committed a crime rather than has been committed, leaving open conviction eventually materializes

provide sufficient evidence under the been convicted or one or admitted to whether this suspicion will ever be effectively nullifies this clear com-
standard in Woodby v. INS, which the elements of the crime. The CBP confirmed by a subsequent convic- mand.” Unlike the merchants of old,
held that the burden was on the gov- officer should also not be able to ex- tion”. a CBP officer cannot set up a piepow-
ernment to prove by “clear, unequiv- tract a confession. The 2nd Circuit reasoned that der court at the airport to bludgeon
ocal, and convincing evidence” that The U.S. Court of Appeals for the “INA is unmistakably clear a weary LPR traveler into admitting
the LPR should be deported from the 2nd Circuit’s holding in Blanche that the default presumption is that to having committed the elements of
the United States. This has also been v. Lau was much more in line with LPRs will not be treated as seeking a CIMT absent clear and convincing
more recently affirmed by the Board Justice Ginsburg’s reasoning. The admission unless certain threshold evidence.
of Immigration Appeals in Matter 2nd Circuit held that the INA does determinations have been made…
of Rivens, 25 I&N Dec. 623 (BIA not permit “DHS to treat a returning Allowing DHS to defer such a de- *Kaitlyn Box is a Partner at Cyrus D.
2011). LPR as an applicant for admission termination and take a wait-and-see Mehta & Partners PLLC.
As the late Justice Ginsburg ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
observed in Vartelas v. Holder, 566
U.S. 257 (2012), “[o]rdinarily to de- Cyrus D. Mehta, a graduate of Cambridge University and Columbia Law School, is the Managing Partner of Cyrus D. Mehta
termine whether there is clear and & Partners PLLC in New York City. Mr. Mehta is a member of AILA’s Administrative Litigation Task Force; AILA’s EB-5 Com-
convincing evidence that an alien has mittee; former chair of AILA’s Ethics Committee; special counsel on immigration matters to the Departmental Disciplinary
committed a qualifying crime, the im-
migration officer at the border would Committee, Appellate Division, First Department, New York; member of the ABA Commission on Immigration; board member
check the alien’s record of convic- of Volunteers for Legal Services and board member of New York Immigration Coalition. Mr. Mehta is the former chair of the
tion. He would not call into session Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Council and former chair of the Committee on Immigration and Nationality
a piepowder court to entertain a plea
or conduct a trial.” Piepowder, or Law of the New York City Bar Association. He is a frequent speaker and writer on various immigration-related issues, including
“dusty feet courts”, as Justice Gins- on ethics, and is also an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches a course entitled Immigration and
burg’s decision notes, were tempo- Work. Mr. Mehta received the AILA 2018 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for advancing the practice of immigration law
rary mercantile courts quickly set up
to hear commercial disputes at trade and the AILA 2011 Michael Maggio Memorial Award for his outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the
fairs in medieval Europe while the immigration field. He has also received two AILA Presidential Commendations in 2010 and 2016. Mr. Mehta is ranked among
merchants’ feet were still dusty. the most highly regarded lawyers in North America by Who’s Who Legal – Corporate Immigration Law 2019 and is also ranked
Justice Ginsburg’s observation
appears to restrict a CBP officer’s in Chambers USA and Chambers Global 2019 in immigration law, among other rankings.

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