Opinion ID: 785417
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: First Petition

Text: 7 On May 4, 1998 an immigration judge (IJ) considered Khouzam's application for asylum and withholding of removal. Under the INA no person may be granted such relief if there are serious reasons to believe that person has committed a serious nonpolitical crime prior to arriving in the United States. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158(b)(2)(A)(iii), 1231(b)(3)(B)(iii) (2000). Having found this to be the case based on evidence of the alleged murder, the immigration judge denied Khouzam's application and ordered his removal from the United States. On January 4, 1999 the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed Khouzam's appeal. Subsequently, for reasons that we need not go into here, there was a new hearing before an IJ, who again denied Khouzam's asylum and withholding claims. On March 7, 2002 the appeal from this decision was also dismissed. This subsequent dismissal is the subject of Khouzam's first petition.