Estrella Santos-Zacarias was denied asylum making her ineligible for asylum. Her 2nd request for immigration is known as withholding of removal — deported persons likely to face persecution based on a protected trait in their home countries.
When denied the second time, Ms. Santos sought an appeal from the 5th Circuit. They ruled that she couldn’t appeal because she had not yet “exhausted her options.” Specifically, she was told she must first request “reconsideration” before an appeal. The 5th Circuit ruled against her “withholding removal” type of asylum because “conditions for LGBT people in Guatemala have improved.”
SCOTUS ruled on technical issues. Letting the ruling stand would mean flooding the courts with pre- and post-reconsiderations before appeals.
The written document was also unique because it (1) respected Ms. Santos’ pronouns and (2) referred to her as a “non-immigrant” rather than an “illegal alien.” Read more>>>
