Pouhova v. Holder

Alien (native of Bulgaria) was entitled to new removal hearing, even though IJ ordered alien removed and denied her application for adjustment of status based on her marriage to U.S. citizen, where IJ found that alien had assisted another alien in her attempt to enter U.S. illegally by providing said alien with her passport. Basis of IJ’s finding was content of two hearsay documents containing statements by alien who had attempted to enter U.S., and Ct. of Appeals found that admission of said documents deprived instant alien of fair hearing, since alien was unable to cross-examine either declarant or individual who had drafted declarant’s statements to determine scope of declarant’s English language abilities. Moreover, contents of statements contained significant inconsistencies and omissions that rendered said statements unreliable.