Hernandez v. Ashcroft
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
345 F.3d 824 (2003)
Hernandez (defendant in the immigration proceeding), a Mexican citizen, married Refugio, a U.S. permanent resident; after he physically assaulted her repeatedly in Mexico, she fled to family in Los Angeles, but Refugio followed and lured her back with promises of counseling and better treatment that he never kept, after which he severely battered her again. She fled to the United States a second time and met her current partner, but was picked up in removal proceedings. An immigration judge denied cancellation of removal for lack of credibility and insufficient proof of domestic violence; the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed on credibility but still found she hadn't shown extreme cruelty in the United States as the Violence Against Women Act requires, since Refugio's actual physical battering had occurred only in Mexico.
Whether a spouse has inflicted extreme cruelty in the United States, for purposes of the Violence Against Women Act, when he does not physically harm his spouse while she is in the United States but instead lures her back to another country where he does harm her.