SWLAW Blog
July 9, 2025
Southwestern Law Students Secure Major Immigration Win in Ninth Circuit Appeal
“Petition GRANTED in part. Case remanded.”
With those six words, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit handed a major victory to a lawful permanent resident facing removal from the United States—and to the Southwestern Law School students who represented him through the school’s Appellate Litigation Clinic.
Southwestern students Chinonso Anokwute ’25, Aria Beizai ’25, Piper Hinson ’25, Graham Outerbridge ’25, and Jennifer Alvarez ’25 worked together to draft both the opening and reply briefs submitted to the Ninth Circuit. In May 2025, Beizai and Hinson presented oral arguments before the court in Pasadena. Their joint efforts resulted in a partial reversal of the lower tribunal’s decision and a remand for further proceedings.
“This was a HUGE win for our client and the clinic team,” Anokwute shared in a LinkedIn post announcing the decision. He recognized the full student team for their contributions and thanked Professors Erica Jansson ’21 and Andrew Knapp for their mentorship and guidance.
The Ninth Circuit ruling found that the client, who had lived in the U.S. for decades, was wrongly deemed ineligible for cancellation of removal due to a first-time, simple possession drug offense from 2004 that was later expunged under California law. The panel concluded that, because the conviction predated the 2011 narrowing of Lujan-Armendariz v. INS, the client was still entitled to have it treated under the former, more protective rule, even though he violated the probationary conditions of his court-ordered diversion. That precedent held that a first-time offender whose conviction is set aside under a state rehabilitative statute could not be deemed “convicted” for immigration purposes.
As the court explained, “because Posada’s later-expunged state-law conviction is eligible for treatment under the [Federal First Offender Act], it cannot trigger the stop-time rule barring cancellation of removal.”
The decision is not only life-changing for the client, but a hard-won and potentially precedent-shaping victory for the student team. Said Beizai, “I am so grateful I had the opportunity to represent our client in his immigration appeal. The Appellate Litigation Clinic is a great opportunity for students to develop their written and oral advocacy skills while doing good for clients that are in need.”