The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an order staying proceedings in a case in which two Salvadoran nationals seek to review a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals denying them asylum and withholding of deportation.  The court stayed proceedings based on the fact that the petitioners may qualify as derivative beneficiaries for suspension of deportation under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA).

The petitioners in this case are the spouse and the child of a Salvadoran national who registered for temporary protected status (TPS) and therefore is eligible for suspension of deportation under the special provisions of the NACARA.  Before the principal alien can receive this benefit, however, he must apply to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for suspension under procedures that have not yet been finalized.   The INS plans to have asylum officers process the suspension applications of members of the class in American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh who qualify for NACARA suspension, but these regulations have yet to be finalized (see "EOIR Issues Interim Rule for NACARA Motions to Reopen," Immigrants’ Rights Update, June 17, 1998, p. 3).

In this case, the petitioners filed motions to reopen their deportation cases to seek relief under the NACARA; and they filed prior to the Sept. 11, 1998, deadline for such motions.  However, under the statute, they cannot seek this relief until the principal alien is granted NACARA suspension of deportation.  Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit stayed the proceedings to allow them to pursue this relief when they become eligible for it.