Two students from the West Virginia University College of Law will argue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago on Thursday (Sept. 24).

Third-year law students Kirk Auvil and Phillip Wachowiak are representing a Honduran national in Rufino Antonio Estrada-Martinez v. Loretta E. Lynch, Attorney General of the United States of America.

Estrado-Martinez is a client of the WVU Immigration Law Clinic.

The clinic is appealing a U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision that reversed a ruling by an immigration judge to grant Estrada-Martinez withholding of removal. In immigration law, withholding of removal protects individuals from being deported to a country where they risk persecution.

In reversing the immigration judge’s earlier decision, the BIA determined that Estrada-Martinez was convicted of a serious crime in Honduras.

“We argue that the BIA applied the incorrect legal standard when it made its determination about Mr. Estrada-Martinez,” said Michael Blumenthal, visiting professor of law and co-director of the Immigration Law Clinic.

The clinic has been working on this case for about a year, according to Blumenthal.

To watch Auvil and Wachowiak in court, click here for a live webcast of the Seventh Circuit’s proceedings beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.

-WVU-

jj/09/23/15

CONTACT: James Jolly, College of Law
304.293.7439, James.Jolly@mail.wvu.edu

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