-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS FROM THE COURTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jobe v. INS, First Circuit In this case, the court ruled that the petitioner was not entitled to reopen his deportation proceedings. Sulay Jobe, a native of Gambia, entered the US as a business visitor in 1994. He overstayed his visa, and in 1996 was placed in deportation proceedings. He failed to appear for the deportation hearing and was deported in absentia. He tried to file a motion to reopen the proceedings, but because it was filed more than 180 days after the order, the Immigration Judge dismissed it as not timely filed. Jobe appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, arguing that ineffective assistance of counsel caused him both to miss the deportation hearing and to not file the motion to reopen within the 180-day period. The Board dismissed the appeal, finding that Jobe did not establish the exceptional circumstances necessary for an exception to the 180-day rule. Jobe then appealed to the First Circuit, which granted his appeal, finding that because he was unaware of the deportation order, the 180-day rule should be tolled for that period. However, the INS requested a rehearing by the entire Circuit, which resulted in the current decision. On rehearing, the INS argued that the 180-day rule was a jurisdictional element and therefore not subject to tolling. The court, while finding this argument persuasive, declined to rule on it, instead finding that Jobe had failed to present evidence that the application of the 180-day rule violated his due process rights. There was evidence in the record that Jobe knew that some action was being taken on his case, but that he failed to contact an attorney for more than six months. In the court’s opinion, his failure to diligently protect his rights meant that his ineffective assistance of counsel claim was without merit. The opinion is available online at http://www.ilw.com/lawyers/immigdaily/cases/2001,0201-Jobe.shtm _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------