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        No. 25-842 · October Term 2026

        Wassily v. Blanche

        Granted June 29, 2026 · From the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

        Question

        Can a noncitizen whose asylum status has been terminated apply to become a lawful permanent resident based on having once been granted asylum?

        Facts of the case

        Tamer Wassily, a native and citizen of Egypt, entered the United States on a visitor visa in 1993 and stayed after it expired. In removal proceedings, he applied for asylum, saying he faced persecution in Egypt because of his Coptic Christian faith, and the government granted him asylum in 2000. In 2004, a New York court convicted him of third-degree stalking and child endangerment. Citing those convictions, the Department of Homeland Security moved to reopen his case and end his asylum. An immigration judge terminated Wassily’s asylum after treating his stalking conviction as a “particularly serious crime”—a category of offense that can strip a person of asylum—and ordered him removed to Egypt. After an earlier round of appeals, the immigration judge again ended his asylum but decided he could still apply to become a lawful permanent resident, and approved that application. The Department of Homeland Security appealed. While the appeal was pending, the Board of Immigration Appeals adopted the view that only a person who currently holds asylum can take that step, and it concluded that Wassily could not, because his asylum had already been terminated. Wassily petitioned the U.S.…

        From Oyez.