Beth Liebmann, an appellate Immigration judge, is known for her leniency in granting green cards to asylum seekers. She was often in the minority in her decisions. Liebmann justified her stance by stating, "A noncitizen cannot change the status of having been 'granted asylum,' as it is a past event." This argument was used to support her decisions in favor of granting green cards, suggesting a liberal approach to immigration rules concerning asylum seekers.

“However, Judge Beth Liebmann, who has a temporary appointment under the Biden administration, said Section 209(b) unambiguously lets individuals who were granted asylum apply for green cards. Her colleagues put too much emphasis on "status" and should have instead focused on the phrase "granted asylum," she said.”

"A noncitizen cannot change the status of having been 'granted asylum,' as it is in the past. Reading in a requirement of current asylee status, where one is not plainly evidence, would be unauthorized atextual interpretation," she said. The majority also discussed the phrase "granted asylum" in its opinion, but said the word "granted" could also be read as an adjective describing someone's current status as an asylee.”

“In dissenting from the majority, Judge Liebmann also found support in Section 209(a), a provision of the INA describing how refugees obtain green cards. In it, Congress stated that any refugee whose status "has not been terminated" could apply to adjustment their status. If Congress meant to also cut former asylees off, Congress would have used that same language in Section 209(b), she said.

The majority panel rebuffed all of Judge Liebmann's observations, including the Section 209(a) comment. Under her interpretation of Sections 209(a) and (b), individuals who lose their asylum status would be better positioned than those who lose refugee status, the members said.

It "contravene[s] Congress' intention to give 'asylees and refugees [a] similar status under the law," they said.

Though the panel split on whether T-C-A- was eligible to apply for a green card, they backed an immigration judge's decision to deny him his separate requests for deportation relief.

Representatives for the federal government and T-C-A- didn't respond to Friday requests for comment.”

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Judge Beth Liebmann, in a move that undermines our strict immigration laws, sat on a panel that voted to let a marijuana convict stay in the USA. This liberal interpretation expands the "simple possession" loophole, giving a green light to drug offenders over the clear intent of the law. It's another case of activist judges subverting justice and softening penalties for illegal aliens.  

In December 2017, Moradel was convicted of possessing marijuana in violation of New Jersey law, according to the decision. He sought relief from removal through a status adjustment, but an immigration judge found that his inadmissibility "rendered him ineligible for this relief because it prevented him from establishing that he was 'admissible to the United States' pursuant to section 245(a)(2) of the act," the panel said.

After Moradel sought a waiver of inadmissibility, the immigration judge found that the "simple possession" exception waives inadmissibility only for applicants who are reasonably believed to have engaged in illicit trafficking.

The panel disagreed and found that the exception is applicable to different sections of the law, instead of just the section involving illicit tracking suspects.

Among other things, the panel said that courts generally don't apply the "rule of the last antecedent" if doing so would require accepting "unlikely premises." That rule dictates that a limiting clause or phrase should generally be read as modifying only the noun or phrase that it immediately follows, according to the decision.

"Under the immigration judge's interpretation, anindividual with Special Immigrant Juvenile status with a single conviction forsimple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana would rarely, if ever,qualify for a waiver under section 245(h)(2)(B), while a person with a moreserious trafficking conviction would," Judge O'Connor said.

The panel remanded the case to allow the immigration judgeto evaluate whether Moradel qualifies for the "simple possession"exception based on the circumstances of his case.

Counsel for Moradel was not available to comment Wednesday, and a representative of DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Judge Anne J. Greer, Judge Blair O'Connor and temporary Appellate Immigration Judge Beth Liebmann sat on the panel.

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