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ST. LOUIS RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Canadian in country illegally loses appeal

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ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has denied petitions for review in two cases involving appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

A Canadian man, Leslie Lyle Camick, petitioned for two decisions from the BIA to be reviewed. The appeals court denied both.

The case was before Circuit Judges James B. Loken, Ralph R. Erickson and William Duane Benton.

The petitions involved a decision by the BIA that dismissed Camick's appeal from an immigration judge's decision that granted "voluntary departure with an alternate order of removal," and the second order was asking for the first to be reconsidered, according to the June 8 order.

Camick came to the United States in 2006 and misrepresented himself as his deceased younger brother by using his name and birth certificate. In 2011, he admitted that he did not have valid entry documents and had come into the country by misrepresentation.

The removal proceedings for Camick were later suspended due to criminal charges in Kansas stemming from stealing his dead brother's identity. He was convicted and sentenced to federal prison.

After being released from prison, Camick was denied by the Department of Homeland Security and went before an immigration judge who later granted Camick voluntary departure. Camick was to leave for Canada by March 3, 2016.

Instead of leaving, Camick waited until March 12, 2016, and then filed a notice of appeal, in which he withdrew his consent for voluntary departure. He was then removed from the U.S. and sent to Canada on March 23, 2016.

The BIA dismissed the appeal on July 28, 2016, and then denied the motion to reconsider that was filed after the dismissal. Camick then appealed those decisions.

In his appeal, Camick argued that the BIA should not have denied his motion for an appeal and his motion to reconsider the denial because he had timely filed the appeal within 30 days of the Feb. 18, 2016, hearing.

"In these circumstances, we conclude that Camick’s belated appeal to the BIA was untimely because it was filed after termination of the voluntary departure period, whether or not it was timely filed under the BIA’s procedural regulations," the order states. "Therefore, any error by the BIA in not taking up this futile appeal of the alternative removal order on the merits was harmless, and the petitions for judicial review must be denied."

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit case numbers: 16-3506, 17-2089

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