The Attorney General vacated the decision in Matter of Compean, Bangaly & J-E-C-, 24 I&N Dec. 710 (A.G. 2009), and pending the outcome of a rulemaking process, directed the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Immigration Judges to continue to apply the previously established standards for reviewing motions to reopen based on claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.
In the past, filing a motion to reopen in removal proceedings based upon a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel and required the alien to show that he was prejudiced by the action or inaction of his counsel. This was established by the Board of Immigration Appeals in the case of Lozada.
In Compean the court held that a new substantive and procedural framework for reviewing all such claims and a formulation of the prejudice showing different from that followed by many courts. The court essentially made this a huge burden and obstacle to overcome. The Attorney General reviewed the decision and acknowledged that it created unfairness. As a result, he vacated the decision.
The decision to vacate is tremendously good news for immigrants and immigration attorneys representing such clients. People are likely to get a fair chance at resolving their issues in the event they receive ineffective assistance from their counsel.