In June 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the decision in Matter of K-S-E-, in which the Board of Immigration Appeals had ruled that Kesly Sylvestre, a Haitian man, was “firmly resettled” in Brazil and that the Haitian government was able and willing to control his persecutors. Mr. Sylvestre was represented by our Program and the Innovation Law Lab on appeal. We argued that the Board improperly indicated that a third country’s offer of contingent, possibly renewable, status might constitute an offer of “firm resettlement,” notwithstanding the plain language of the statute and precedential decisions of circuit courts and the Board, which provide otherwise.
You can find a practice advisory on Matter of K-S-E- here. This may be especially relevant to other Haitian applicants for asylum and/or Temporary Protected Status.
We would like to extend our thanks to Harvard Law School students Rachel Cohen (JD ’22) Gabriel Zimmerman (JD ’22), Ayano Kitano (JD ’22), and Andrew Patterson (JD ’20), who worked on this case under the supervision of Program Director Sabi Ardalan and Albert M. Sacks Teaching and Advocacy Fellow Zachary Albun.