www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...

🔗 Case Link: Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio (2014)https://www.oyez.org/cases/2013/12-930

The Scenario:
❌ Grandparent petitions for Parent (Child is derivative).
❌ Child ages out.
❌ Parent (now LPR) files new petition for unmarried son/daughter.
👉 Result: New petitioner = New case. The old priority date is lost.

The Rule: Priority date retention (CSPA § 203(h)(3)) requires "automatic conversion." The BIA ruled—and SCOTUS agreed—that this only happens if the petitioner remains the same (e.g., F2A -> F2B).

Many assume that if a child ages out of a petition, they can keep their original priority date on a new petition filed by their parent. Under Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio (affirming Matter of Wang), the answer is generally NO. 🚫

This decision reinforces that CAT claims require concrete, evidence-based predictions about future harm, not generalized or speculative fears.

The BIA’s ruling sets a precedent that may make it more difficult to obtain CAT protection based on speculative future harm, especially when the respondent’s criminal history renders them ineligible for other forms of relief.

Immigration lawyers should ensure that any CAT claim is supported by specific evidence, such as recent threats, documented country conditions, and credible expert testimony, rather than relying on assumptions or hypothetical scenarios.

Spoliation is not an accident; it is the deliberate killing of evidence when the law is closing in. The court, smelling the corpse, is free to imagine what the dead thing would have said, and here its testimony would have marched in step with the plaintiff’s story.

The message is blunt: if Americans want responsive government, the answer isn’t more charismatic independents or clever election tweaks, it’s rebuilding the parties themselves so they actually represent, organize, and deliver.

They urge investment in grassroots, member-driven parties that link citizens to power, not simply candidates to donors. Without that connective tissue, disengagement will deepen and democracy will remain brittle.

but ours have become hollow brands. Strengthening party organization—not just campaign finance rules or charismatic leaders—is essential to restoring democratic trust.

Abu El-Haj and Kuo argue that Americans’ distrust of parties has hollowed out our democracy itself. Parties are meant to channel citizen energy, build accountability, and sustain coherent governance—l

A sharp essay today from Tabatha Abu El-Haj and Didi Kuo on what it will take to rebuild functional, trustworthy parties: Building Associational Parties.