Opinion ID: 3167560
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: D, and deserving of discretionary asylum.

Text: Having held that the Maroufs are eligible for asylum, supra Part II.D, we also hold that, on the face of the record, the Maroufs are deserving of a discretionary grant of asylum. Discretionary denials of asylum to otherwise-eligible applicants are rare and appropriate only in narrow circumstances. See supra Part II.A (noting that discretionary denials are rare and unusual, and appropriate only for “egregious conduct” such as crime and visa fraud). None of those circumstances appear to be present in the Maroufs’ case, and unless such circumstances are adequately proven on remand, denial of asylum to the Maroufs will amount to an abuse of discretion. In the absence of evidence demonstrating such circumstances, the Maroufs shall be granted asylum. No. 14-4136 Marouf, et al. v. Lynch Page 20 We note that an Immigration Judge’s determination that an applicant’s testimony lacks credibility cannot form the basis of a discretionary denial of asylum if that testimony has been credited, as it has been here, for the purposes of determining asylum eligibility. Kalubi v. Ashcroft, 364 F.3d 1134, 1142 (9th Cir. 2004) (“We now make it clear that if an applicant’s testimony on an issue is accepted for purposes of determining whether he is statutorily eligible for asylum, the same testimony must also be accepted for purposes of determining whether he is entitled to asylum as a discretionary matter.”). F. It also bears emphasizing that the current Presidential Administration has a policy of sparing noncitizens from deportation if they have children born here who are therefore citizens of the United States. See, e.g., Memorandum from John Morton, Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Policy No. 10075.1, Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion Consistent With the Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities of the Agency for the Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Aliens 4 (June 17, 2011) (promoting prosecutorial discretion in removal decisions based on “whether the person has a U.S. citizen or permanent resident . . . child”); U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Directive 11064.1, Facilitating Parental Interests in the Course of Civil Immigration Enforcement Activities 3 (Aug. 23, 2013) (“[Homeland Security Field Office Directors] shall continue to weigh whether an exercise of prosecutorial discretion may be warranted for a given alien and shall consider all relevant factors in this determination, including whether the alien is a parent or legal guardian of a [citizen] or [legal permanent resident] minor . . . .”); see also Memorandum from Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security, Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children and with Respect to Certain Individuals Who Are Parents of U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents (Nov. 20, 2014) (creating a “deferred action” program for parents of United States citizens, commonly known as “DAPA”). But see Texas v. United States, 86 F. Supp. 3d 591 (S.D. Texas 2015) (granting 26 states or their representatives preliminary injunction to prevent implementation, pursuant to directive from DHS Secretary, of program of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), which would provide legal presence for illegal immigrants who were parents of citizens or lawful No. 14-4136 Marouf, et al. v. Lynch Page 21 permanent residents, and to prevent expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA program); 787 F.3d 733 (5th Cir. 2015) (denying motion to stay preliminary injunction or narrow its scope pending appeal); petition for cert. filed, (U.S. Nov. 20, 2015) (No. 15-674). The Maroufs have two young American-citizen children born in the United States. If the Maroufs are deported, those children would be forced either to relocate with their parents to a violent country they have never been to, or remain in the United States as orphans. It is unclear why the Maroufs have been singled out for removal in light of the administration’s policies. There are questions about whether these policies are being consistently followed at the prosecutorial level, see, e.g., Adam B. Cox & Cristina M. Rodríguez, The President and Immigration Law Redux, 125 Yale L.J. 104, 185-90 (2015) (concluding that the 2011 “Morton Memo” has been ineffective in influencing the exercise of prosecutorial discretion), along with ongoing concern from judges, scholars, and other observers that adjudication by Immigration Judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals is alarmingly inconsistent, see, e.g., Adam B. Cox, Deference, Delegation, and Immigration Law, 74 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1671 (2007); Jaya RamjiNogales, Andrew I. Schoenholtz & Philip G. Schrag, Refugee Roulette: Disparities in Asylum Adjudication, 60 Stan. L. Rev. 295 (2007).