Akeish Johnioy Morgan v. Merrick B. Garland

Petitioner Akeish Johnioy Morgan ("Morgan") is a national and citizen of Jamaica who illegally

entered the United States without inspection on June 11, 2022. Some two weeks prior, on May 27, 2022, a Jamaican justice of the peace had issued a warrant for his arrest for the charges of murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and wounding with intent to do grievous bodily injury. Morgan now seeks our review of an order by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") dismissing his appeal from an Immigration Judge's ("IJ") denial of his applications for asylum, statutory withholding of removal ("Statutory Withholding"), and relief (both withholding ("CAT Withholding") and deferral ("CAT Deferral") of removal)1 under the U.S. regulations implementing the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). The IJ determined Morgan to be ineligible for asylum, Statutory Withholding, and CAT Withholding because of the warrants

issued against him in Jamaica. The BIA affirmed this determination, concluding that these warrants, alongside other

supporting evidence, barred Morgan's eligibility for non-CAT Deferral relief as there were "serious reasons for believing that the respondent committed a serious nonpolitical crime before arriving in the United States."

For the foregoing reasons, we deny the petition for

review insofar as it challenges the agency's determination of

Morgan's ineligibility for asylum, Statutory Withholding, and CAT

Withholding. We grant the petition for review insofar as it

challenges the agency's determination of Morgan's ineligibility

for CAT Deferral, vacate that determination, and remand to the BIA

for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.