U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1984

Ramin Bolourchian v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Decided October 29, 1984 · Hug, Tang, Farris

751 F.2d 979; 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 17280 (Federal Reporter, Second Series)

Counsel

Polly A. Webber, San Jose, Cal., for petitioner., Marshall Tamor Golding, Washington, D.C., for respondent.

Cases that cite this one

4 later published cases cite this decision.

De Sousa v. Demore (United States District Court for the Northern District of California 2001)
Marvin Stone v. Immigration and Naturalization Service (6th Cir. 1994)
Leszek Jeziorski v. United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (9th Cir. 1993)
Uzuegbu v. Caplinger (United States District Court Eastern District of Louisiana 1990)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Ramin Bolourchian, an Iranian student, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming an Immigration Judge’s (IJ) order of deportation. He contends that the INS should be equitably estopped from deporting him because INS conduct led him to *980 believe he was not in violation of his nonim-migrant status. The INS argues that this court does not have jurisdiction over Bo-lourchian’s claim under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a).

This court does have section 1105a(a) jurisdiction to review the decision. Cf. Ghorbani v. INS, 686 F.2d 784 (9th Cir. 1982). Bolourchian does not request review of the discretionary decisions of the District Director of INS, but rather the decision of the BIA that government misconduct does not estop the deportation. This is thus an appropriate review of a deportation order.

The BIA correctly denied Bolourchian’s equitable estoppel claim on the merits. Estoppel may be invoked only if the governmental conduct constitutes “affirmative misconduct.” INS v. Hibi, 414 U.S. 5, 8, 94 S.Ct. 19, 21, 38 L.Ed.2d 7 (1973) (per curiam); Santiago v. INS, 526 F.2d 488, 491-92 (9th Cir. 1975) (en banc), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 971, 96 S.Ct. 2167, 48 L.Ed.2d 794 (1976). Bolourchian failed to establish that the actions of the INS officials constitute affirmative misconduct.

We suggest, however, that Bolourchian apply to the District Director for a retroactive extension of stay. Although we have no jurisdiction to compel the District Director to grant the extension, we believe that Bolourchian’s good faith efforts to comply with the applicable regulations and his continued full-time attendance in school produce equities which may tip the Director’s exercise of discretion in his favor. To provide sufficient time for Bolourchian to reapply for discretionary relief, we stay this court’s mandate for 60 days. Benitez-Mendez v. INS, 748 F.2d 539 (9th Cir. 1984), Torabpour v. INS, 694 F.2d 1119, 1122-23 (8th Cir. 1982).

The Petition for Review is DENIED.

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