Breaking News

Granted case on asylum rights settled

Lawyers for a man who came to the U.S. eight years ago as a refugee from Somalia notified the Supreme Court on Friday that his case, granted review by the Court on Sept. 25, has been settled, and will now be voluntarily dismissed.  The case is Ali v. Achim, et al. (06-1346); the motion for voluntary dismissal can be found here.

Ahmed Ali was convicted in Wisconsin of “substantial battery” and, as a result, was ordered to be deported in 2002. His request for asylum or delay of the deportation order was denied by immigration officials.  His appeal raised issues about whether a criminal conviction must be an “aggravated felony” to qualify as the kind of crime that bars a convicted alien from remaining in the U.S  The petition also asked the Court to spell out the scope of federal appeals courts’ authority to review immigration officials’ determinations about what constitutes such a crime.