9th Cir.;
15-70155

The court of appeals granted a petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals. The court held that the immigration judge erred by failing to determine whether procedural safeguards were required after the subject of removal proceedings showed signs of mental incompetency.

Guatemalan native Edwin Mejia entered the U.S. without inspection at some point between 1986 and 1991. The Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings in 2004. Those proceedings were suspended, and reinstated in 2010. Mejia applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and deferral of removal. At hearing, he presented evidence of, among other things, ongoing mental illness, stemming at least in part from a severe childhood head injury. He had been treated with medication for major depression with psychotic features. He also has a history of alcohol abuse which, according to his medical records, was likely related to his mental illness. Mejia testified that he was not taking his medication and that he was “not functioning quite well” because “there's an ongoing fight in, in between [his mind],” and that he felt a “very strong pressure inside [his] head.” Mejia's mother testified about Mejia's mental health issues.