U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Garcia Morales v. Blanche
August 31, 2026
Summary
The court granted the petition for review and remanded because the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Rule unlawfully conditioned asylum eligibility on how a noncitizen entered the United States, contrary to the asylum statute. The court also held that the Board of Immigration Appeals applied an incomplete mixed-motives analysis by considering only whether the protected ground alone would have caused the harm, without considering the but-for and more-than-incidental alternatives. Judge Bumatay dissented, arguing that the Rule was authorized by Congress and that the BIA's analysis was sufficient.