Case Update (25 July 2023): Jose Junior v. Ferreira de Sousa, Respondent's requests for reconsideration of return order, and/or stay of it, are denied
On June 27, 2023, the district court ordered the parties' child returned to Brazil, concluding that the Respondent Mother had not met her burden under Article 13b or 20 of the Abduction Convention. The court also dismissed her argument that she had a pending asylum application, with the child as a derivative applicant. The Court, citing to Salame v. Tescari, arrived at the result that the two proceedings, while overlapping in terms of some evidence, are distinct, and that the child can be returned.
The Mother sought both a stay of the return order pending her appeal and a reconsideration of that order on the basis of: her grave risk claim, alleged ongoing threats by the Father via email (to report her to immigration authorities if she failed to return the child), and that returning the child would conflict with human rights because of her pending asylum application.
The court concluded that the Mother failed to show she would succeed on appeal, so the stay was not granted. Furthermore, because public policy requires an end to litigation and finality of judgments, the court would only consider a motion for reconsideration in extreme circumstances, none of which exist here. The asylum claim was addressed by the district court already in its January 2023 return order.