Definition (English):—
Definition (Spanish):—
Comments:This phrase is case law from Elramly v. INS, although partially referencing Varela-Blanco v. INS. In Elramly v. INS, Mr. Elramly had been convicted of a 'serious drug offense', and therefore had to show the BIA 'unusual or outstanding and countervailing equities' that would overcome the serious drug offense on his record. There are a few complicating factors: 'equities' should, linguistically, be positive factors. However, in Immigration law they are often 'negative or positive equities', in other words, negative or positive factors to be balanced. 'outstanding' can mean 'really exceptional', and it can also mean 'still in existence'. 'countervailing', meanwhile, is a term that means 'to be worth as much as'. So what we're looking at, here, is 'positive factors that are unusual, exceptional/still in existence and of equal, but opposite, weight.'