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Alejandra Sandoval v. Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States

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Submitted: October 19, 2010

Before RILEY, Chief Judge, BYE and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.

Alejandra Sandoval, a citizen of Mexico, contends section 212(a)(6)(C)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which renders inadmissible any alien who makes a false claim to United States citizenship, should not apply to her because, at the time she made the misrepresentation, she was an unaccompanied minor. The immigration judge (IJ) accepted Sandoval’s argument and granted her adjustment of status on the basis of her marriage to a United States citizen. The Board of Immigration Appeals reversed, pointing to the lack of authority for the IJ’s actions yet refusing to enunciate the controlling standard. On the record before us, we cannot discern whether the Board rejected Sandoval’s argument on a wholesale basis, refusing to exempt from the statute any minors no matter what the age, or whether the Board’s analysis was more nuanced and hinged on certain factors that warranted the application of the statute in Sandoval’s particular case. Because, as the old saying goes, it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness, and the Board must articulate a sufficient basis for its decision to enable meaningful review, SEC v. Chenery Corp., 332 U.S. 194, 196-97 (1947), we remand the matter to the Board with instructions to clarify the standard it uses in applying section 212(a)(6)(C)(ii) to unaccompanied minors and to articulate the reasons Sandoval deserves no relief under that standard.

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