Skip to content
LPBN-Icon-v1
ImmigrationProf Blog
A Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network

The BIA Affirms Termination of Deportation Proceedings in the Case of the “Wilson Four” – Latino Students Profiled in Buffalo

By immigrationprof

1211wilsonfourautosized158 The Board of Immigration Appeals on Nov. 29 concluded that the former Wilson Charter High School students in Phoenix had been wrongly targeted by immigration officials at the Canadian border because of their Hispanic appearance.   As a result, a federal immigration judge in July, 2005, was right to throw out the deportation cases against them, the board concluded in a statement rejecting the government’s appeal.  For the BIA order, click Download nava_wilson_4.pdf

In June, 2002, the students traveled to upstate New York to participate in a solar-powered boat competition. During a side trip to Niagara Falls, immigration officials at the Canadian border interrogated the students for nine hours, and after determining they were in the country illegally, began deportation proceedings.  It has been a long ordeal for the students and their families.  The incident took place in 2002. The Immigration Judge terminated the removal proceedings in 2005. The BIA ended the case in Nov. 2006.   Click here for a news story on the case.

KJ