Case Explained: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT NEWTON SCOTT MULAMA v. TODD W. BLANCHE, Acting U.S. Attorney General ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW FROM THE UNITED STATES BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Filed: 2026-08-06 The sixth-circuit affirmed the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of Mulama’s application for cancellation of removal but granted his petition in part by remanding the case for reconsideration of voluntary departure eligibility. Regarding cancellation of removal, the court held that the Board correctly applied the statutory standard requiring “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to U.S. citizen children under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(D). The court found no error in the Board’s determination that the financial and emotional hardships Mulama’s three children would face upon his removal to Kenya were not sufficiently rare or severe, noting that their mothers possess substantial income and can provide adequate care. The court also rejected Mulama’s due process claim regarding alleged agency bias because he failed to exhaust administrative remedies by raising the issue before the immigration judge or the Board. Additionally, the court affirmed the denial of a motion to remand based on new evidence regarding his daughter’s autism diagnosis, concluding that this evidence was not material enough to likely change the hardship outcome. However, the court granted the petition regarding voluntary departure and ordered a remand without reaching the merits of whether Mulama properly posted the required bond. Although the Board denied reinstatement of voluntary departure due to a lack of proof that the $500 bond was posted, and the Attorney General requested this specific relief, the court noted that jurisdiction over purely factual findings regarding the bond is limited. Instead, relying on the Attorney General’s voluntary request for remand to allow the agency to reassess eligibility, the court directed the Board to reconsider whether Mulama qualifies for voluntary departure consistent with the record evidence of his bond receipt. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.