In a recent unpublished decision, the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld a decision of an Immigration Judge who ordered a native and citizen of Mexico removed even though he suffered from diabetes and required ongoing medical care.

To be eligible for cancellation of removal, a Respondent needs to make a showing that

• He or she has been present in the United States for 10 years prior to being served a Notice to Appear in Immigration Court;
• He or she has good moral character, and has not been convicted of certain crimes;
• He or she has a United States Citizen or Lawful Permanent Residence (LPR) spouse or child who would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if he or she was deported.

Cancellation of Removal

• Mr. Delfino Flores-Sanchez has no United States Citizen (USC) or Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) family members in the United States;
• He entered without inspection and lived in the United States since 2000;
• He suffered from diabetes which required ongoing medical care.

Since Mr. Flores-Sanchez did not have a USC or LPR spouse or child at the time of his hearing, the Immigration Judge found that he was not eligible for cancellation of removal. He was not able to address any medical concerns because the medical concerns required for Cancellation of Removal must be medical concerns of a family member. His own medical concerns are not of concern to the Court, at least for the kind of relief that he was seeking.

Although the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the Immigration Judge's decision, the BIA made an important statement in its decision. "If [Mr. Flores-Sanchez] believes that, in light of humanitarian or equitable concerns, he should be permitted to remain in this country, he is not precluded from requesting a stay of removal from the Department of Homeland Security." Florez-Sanchez, (BIA Sept. 27, 2013).

The take-away lesson from this decision is that if you have medical issues, but do not have a United States Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident spouse or child, you may still be able to remain in the United States. This is because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may permit you to stay in the United States even though Immigration Court did not grant you relief from removal.  In the above decision, the Court explained that if there are humanitarian concerns (i.e. medical issues), you may request a Stay of Removal.

If you have been ordered removed, do not give up, you can still fight your case. Please contact Wickens Law Group as soon as possible to present your medical concerns to ICE before you are removed from the United States.