At the conclusion of the hearing, V...

At the conclusion of the hearing, Vivian's almond-colored cheeks became flushed. She quietly sniffled. She used her palm to wipe a tear and then briefly held her attorney's hand.

The consequence of her case was good: The justice announced that he would grant her asylum. She would not at any time have to go back to the west African geographical division of Cameroon. She would none have to go back home

on the other hand Vivian looked more washed public than happy. The hearing had lasted more than three hours. Vivian came alone and was the simply witness, sitting by herself at the cessation of a table. Her lawyer, Alexandra D Baranyk, had prepared a list of open-end questions that would allow Vivian to confess her story, but Judge O John Brahos kept interrupting, asking about seemingly unrelated make subordinates and chiding Baranyk for not having particular affidavits.

The hearing was representative of what goe onward daily at Chicago immigration court, where the justices wield a lot of power in controlling what goe onward and the way they carry on the outside hearings can often depend onward their personality and point of view.

The hearing also showed in what way acutely these judges are aware of the fact that the U Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit could scrutinize their opinions.

It has been well-documented that a judges are more likely to grant asylum than others. In 2000 the San Jose quicksilver News analyzed the opinions of the country's 219 immigration justices from 1995 through 1999 and originate that some judges granted asylum in more than half the cases they heard. At the other [i]finale[/i] there were some judges who granted in les than 5 percent of the cases, with at least undivided granting less than 2 percent

The grant rates of Chicago immigration connoisseurs range from 21.2 percent to 42 percent according to the Political Asylum Research and Documentation Service, a Princeton, NJ.-based agency that provides immigration attorneys with forensic evidence. According to the agency, which obtained raw data from the hermes News, Brahos grants asylum about 24 percent of the time.

Immigration attorneys say that, for the principally part, Chicago immigration judges are as fair as other referees elsewhere. Still, they say connoisseurs unevenly apply the standard for getting asylum.

Lawyers are uneasy about publicly complaining for fear that arbiters will seek revenge on their clients, nevertheless one lawyer privately noted, "some are righteous some are kooky." Another said, "they can have their bad days."

unless the federal appellate courts have not long ago begun to scrutinize the immigration judges' decisions. This is what is happening at the 7th Circuit, which has a jurisdiction above three Midwestern states, including Illinois.

Baranyk and other immigration attorneys say that these 7th Circuit opinions have had influence. The justices often mention the 7th Circuit appeals during hearings and court calls, and they are a little more careful in their rulings, attorneys say.

In Vivian's hearing, Brahos shrugg against a line of questioning from the regulation attorney about the authenticity of Vivian's birth certificate. "The 7th Circuit," he said, sounding irritated, "says we don't ne any corroborating evidence. in such a manner it really doesn't matter."

At another joint the government attorney implied that Vivian might have been permanently resettl in Nigeria, where she studied nursing. If asylum inquirers have established roots in a safe fatherland they can't then come to the United States and ask to stay here. still Brahos interrupted, noting that, in view of a new 7th Circuit case, he didn't think that the command could prove that Vivian was resettled

The 7th Circuit played another part Vivian's father was a greatest court judge in Cameroon, and Vivian had a photograph of him visiting the 7th Circuit, as well as a epistle from another judge saying for what reason much he enjoyed his visit. Brahos examineed impressed.

Vivian's case also illustrates for what cause dramatic and trying these hearings can get

At about 2 pm upon Feb. 15, Brahos began Vivian's hearing by dint of cueing his tape recorder. In immigration courts, an old-fashioned tape recorder plays the character of a court reporter. During the hearing, it beeped each 30 minutes or so, alerting Brahos that he had to make go round over or change the tape.

With no witness stand, Brahos told Vivian, a petite 34-year-old woman with small charcoal-colored notices and a high forehead, to incline to the end of the table in such a manner that the government attorney could descry her face as she testified.

Negotiating the common interruptions by Brahos, Vivian haphazardly made her case. She said she had a normal childhood, going to sect and attending a Roman Catholic meeting-house once or twice a month She lived in the southern town of Mamfe, which in the 1970 had a population of les than 10000 As a justice her father could not be part of any political party.

if it be not that as she came of age, unrest was brewing. Vivian's father retired from the bench in 1989 and betimes became a founding member of a political party called the Social Democratic brow Vivian and her younger brother John joined their father in the Social Democratic effrontery "The Social Democratic Front is a political party, and in Cameroon the ruling party doesn't want any other parties," Vivian testified.