Source: http://openjurist.org/632/f2d/749
Timestamp: 2015-11-28 14:52:25
Document Index: 315776189

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1326', '§ 1251', '§ 1254', '§ 1326', '§ 1326', '§ 244', '§ 1252', '§ 1252']

632 F2d 749 United States v. Barajas-Guillen | OpenJurist
632 F. 2d 749 - United States v. Barajas-Guillen HomeFederal Reporter, Second Series 632 F.2d.
632 F2d 749 United States v. Barajas-Guillen 632 F.2d 749
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,v.Juan BARAJAS-GUILLEN, Defendant-Appellant.
Argued and Submitted May 5, 1980.Decided Oct. 2, 1980.Rehearing Denied Nov. 21, 1980.
Michael D. Abzug, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant.
J. Michael Dwyer, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee.
Barajas-Guillen appeals his conviction for reentering the United States without permission of the Attorney General after being deported, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (1976).1 We affirm.
* On November 25, 1977, Barajas-Guillen, a Mexican national, appeared before an immigration judge in Chicago, Illinois, to show cause why he should not be deported for illegally entering the United States. During the hearing, Barajas-Guillen admitted that he had entered the United States without presenting himself for inspection and lawful admittance to an officer of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, see 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2) (1976), and further admitted his deportability. The immigration judge then asked Barajas-Guillen if he wished to apply for discretionary relief from deportation, through voluntary departure. The immigration judge explained that to be eligible for voluntary departure an alien must have sufficient funds to leave the United States immediately, and have been of good moral character for the previous five years. 8 U.S.C. § 1254(e) (1976).2 Barajas-Guillen replied that he could not apply for discretionary relief because he had no money. He was subsequently deported through El Paso, Texas, on December 1, 1977.
Sometime after his deportation, Barajas-Guillen reentered the United States without inspection or the required advance consent of the Attorney General. He was discovered in the United States and arrested on June 26, 1979, and later convicted of violating 8 U.S.C. § 1326.
To prove a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326, "the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant 'illegally entered the United States after being deported according to law.' " United States v. Gasca-Kraft, 522 F.2d 149, 152 (9th Cir. 1975), quoting Pena-Cabanillas v. United States, 394 F.2d 785, 789 (9th Cir. 1968). Barajas-Guillen claims that his prior deportation was not according to law because the statutory scheme pursuant to which he was deported violated his Fifth Amendment right to equal protection of the laws.3 He asserts that section 1254(e) discriminates unconstitutionally against two different classes of aliens: indigent aliens and indigent aliens who are "under deportation proceedings" within the meaning of section 1254(e).
Section 1254(e) provides the Attorney General with discretion to permit any alien "under deportation proceedings," who has been of good moral character for at least five years, to depart voluntarily from the United States at his own expense in lieu of deportation. A condition of such voluntary departure is that the alien demonstrate the ability to leave the United States at his own expense. 8 C.F.R. § 244.1 (1980). Barajas-Guillen first urges that granting voluntary departure only to those aliens capable of paying for their transportation out of the country discriminates unconstitutionally against indigent aliens.
Barajas-Guillen's second contention is that the statutory scheme unconstitutionally discriminates against indigent aliens who are "under deportation proceedings," and therefore are covered by section 1254(e), in favor of aliens who depart prior to the commencement of deportation proceedings. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b) (1976)4 provides the Attorney General with discretion to forego deportation proceedings for any alien who (1) admits his deportability, (2) is not in the criminal, subversive, narcotic offender, or immoral classes of deportable aliens, and (3) can depart the United States at his own expense. The last requirement may be waived, however, if the Attorney General determines that the alien's voluntary departure at government expense is "in the best interest of the United States." 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b). Thus, while aliens who are deported "under deportation proceedings" must demonstrate the financial ability to depart at their own expense in order to qualify for voluntary departure, deportable aliens who depart prior to such proceedings may, in the Attorney General's discretion, be granted voluntary departure at government expense. Barajas-Guillen claims that the distinction between aliens under deportation proceedings and those who depart prior to such proceedings is unconstitutional.
The threshold question pertains to the nature of our review. The scope of judicial inquiry into immigration legis