A stepchild who meets the definition of a “child” under section 101(b)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(b)(1)(B) (2006), is a qualifying relative for purposes of establishing exceptional and extremely unusual hardship for cancellation of removal under section 240A(b)(1)(D) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(D) (2006).
Section 101(b)(1) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(b)(1), defines a “child” as an unmarried person under twenty-one years of age. This definition, under Section 101(b)(1)(B) of the INA, includes a stepchild, provided the child had not reached the age of 18 years at the time the marriage creating the status of stepchild occurred.. No separate adoption is required for a stepchild to be considered a “child.”
Where the record indicates that the respondent married his wife in May of 2007, and where at the time of the hearing before the Immigration Judge in September 2008, the respondent’s stepdaughter was 12 years old, she therefore qualified as his “child” within the meaning of section 101(b)(1)(B) of the INA. Thus, she should have been given full consideration as a qualifying relative in evaluating the hardship in the instant case. Furthermore, the respondent’s stepson, who was 15 years old at the time of the proceedings below, should also have been considered a qualifying relative. It is therefore appropriate to remand the record for the Immigration Judge to reevaluate his findings concerning the hardship that the respondent’s family might suffer if he is removed from the United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment