Source: http://openjurist.org/251/f3d/919
Timestamp: 2013-12-05 00:59:21
Document Index: 245844782

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 656', '§ 101', '§ 1101', '§ 212', '§ 1182', '§ 212', '§ 656', '§ 237', '§ 1227', '§ 242', '§ 1252', '§ 106', '§ 1105', '§ 309', '§ 242', '§ 1252']

251 F3d 919 Moore v. Ashcroft | OpenJurist
251 F. 3d 919 - Moore v. Ashcroft	Home251 f3d 919 moore v. ashcroft
251 F3d 919 Moore v. Ashcroft 251 F.3d 919 (11th Cir. 2001)
Lorna Karen Marcella MOORE, Petitioner,v.John ASHCROFT, Attorney General of the United States, Office of Immigration and Naturalization Service, Respondents.
No. 00-10068.
May 14, 2001.May 24, 2001.
Lorna Karen Marcella Moore ("Petitioner") seeks review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") that she is an aggravated felon subject to removal from the United States. Petitioner raises two issues. First, she argues that her conviction for misapplication of auction drafts by a bank employee in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 656 is not an aggravated felony as defined in § 101(a)(43)(M)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") because it is not a crime inherently involving fraud or deceit. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(M)(i). Second, she argues that INA § 212(h) violates the equal protection guarantee of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment by allowing discretionary relief from removal for illegal immigrants convicted of aggravated felonies while denying the same relief to lawful permanent resident aliens convicted of the same offenses. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(h).
We review the BIA's statutory interpretation of the INA de novo, but will defer to the BIA's interpretation if it is reasonable. Lettman v. Reno, 207 F.3d 1368, 1370 (11th Cir.2000); Le v. U.S. Attorney General, 196 F.3d 1352, 1353-54 (11th Cir.1999). Because of Congress' plenary power over aliens, we review federal classifications such as the one at issue in § 212(h) under a rational basis standard of review. Yeung v. INS, 76 F.3d 337, 339 (11th Cir.1995). After reviewing the briefs and the record on appeal, we conclude that Petitioner's Petition for Review should be dismissed.
Petitioner, a native of Northern Ireland and citizen of the United Kingdom, was admitted to the United States in 1979 as a lawful permanent resident alien. On March 13, 1996, Petitioner was convicted of misapplication of auction drafts by a bank employee under 18 U.S.C. § 656.1 She was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $210,000 in restitution to Barnett Bank. Subsequently, the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") served Petitioner with a notice to appear charging that she was subject to removal as an aggravated felon pursuant to INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii).2 The Immigration Judge found that Petitioner was removable as an aggravated felon and denied her application for withholding of removal. On December 13, 1999, the BIA affirmed the Immigration Judge's decision.
As an initial matter, we conclude that Petitioner's removal from the United States does not render her case moot.3 Because Petitioner's removal proceedings commenced after the April 1, 1997 effective date of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 ("IRRIRA"), this case is governed by IIRIRA's permanent rules, INA § 242, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (Supp. II 1996).4 Galindo-Del Valle v. Attorney General, 213 F.3d 594, 596 (11th Cir.2000), petition for cert. filed, 69 U.S.L.W. 3175 (U.S. Aug. 23, 2000)(No. 00-362). Under the former provisions of the INA, as well as the transitional rules, judicial review was statutorily barred for aliens who had been deported from the United States or who voluntarily departed pending review of the removal order. Tapia Garcia v. INS, 237 F.3d 1216, 1217 (10th Cir.2001); INA § 106(c), 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(c), as modified by IIRIRA § 309(c), Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009. Noticeably absent from the permanent rules, however, is any similar language removing federal review jurisdiction in the event an alien departs or is removed. See INA § 242, 8 U.S.C. § 1252. Based on the clear change in the statutory language, one other circuit has held that an alien's deportation or departure from this country no longer forecloses judicial review of removal orders. Tapia Garcia, 237 F.3d at 1217-18.
We further conclude that there continues to exist a live case or controversy under Article III, section 2 of the United States Constitution. Under Article III, Petitioner must continue to have a personal stake in the outcome of the lawsuit. Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp., 494 U.S. 472, 478, 110 S.Ct. 1249, 1254, 108 L.Ed.2d 400 (1990). Specifically, she must have suffered or be threatened with actual injury traceable to the INS that would be redressed by a favorable judicial deci