Alexander Diaz Martinez v. Jefferson Sessions

I disagree with the majority that the BIA correctly concluded, based on the adverse credibility determination, that Diaz-Martinez aided alien smuggling. No party, judge, or court—not the immigration judge, not the BIA, and not the government on appeal—has argued that the adverse credibility determination provided the basis for Diaz-Martinez’s conviction of aiding alien smuggling. The IJ never referenced the adverse credibility determination in its analysis of why Martinez aided alien smuggling; the BIA explicitly stated that the adverse credibility finding “is not essential to removability.”…