page_title: Aggravated felony
section_title: Challenging an aggravated felony charge
hierarchical_section_title: Aggravated felony / Consequences of an aggravated felony conviction / Challenging an aggravated felony charge
caption_attribution_description: English: The inside of the United States Supreme Court. In the photo are the nine chairs of the Supreme Court Justices.
context_page_description: The term aggravated felony was created by the United States Congress as part of the Immigration and Nationality Act to define a special category of criminal offenses. The INA says that certain aliens "convicted of an aggravated felony shall be considered to have been convicted of a particularly serious crime." Every "legal immigrant," including a "national but not a citizen of the United States," who has been convicted of any aggravated felony is ineligible for citizenship of the United States, and other than a refugee, every alien who has been convicted of any aggravated felony is ineligible to receive a visa or be admitted to the United States, if his or her "term of imprisonment was completed within the previous 15 years."
  When the aggravated felony was introduced in 1988, it encompassed only murder and felony trafficking in drugs and/or firearms. Every aggravated felony conviction was manifestly a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.
context_section_description: An "order of deportation" may be reviewed at any time by any immigration judge or any BIA member and finally by any authorized federal judge. Particular cases, especially those that were adjudicated in any U.S. district court prior to the enactment of the Real ID Act of 2005, can be reopened under Rule 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The review of the order does not require the alien (or the American) to remain in the United States. It can be requested from anywhere in the world via mail (e.g., Canada Post, DHL, FedEx, UPS, etc.) and/or electronic court filing (ECF), and the case can be filed in any court the alien (or the American) finds appropriate. In other words, if one court refuses help, he or she may proceed to another.
  
  Every United States nationality claim, illegal deportation claim, CAT or asylum claim, etc., is adjudicated under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1252(a)(4), 1252(b)(4), 1252(b)(5), 1252(d), 1252(e)(4)(B) and 1252(f)(2). When these specific provisions are invoked, all other contrary provisions of law, especially § 1252(b)(1) and any related case law, must be disregarded because these three claims manifestly constitute exceptional circumstances. In removal proceedings, the focus is solely on whether or not the person belongs in the United States (as a matter of law). If he or she does then dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction or delaying relief is plainly detrimental to the United States. The Supreme Court has pointed out in 2009 that "the context surrounding IIRIRA's enactment suggests that § 1252(f)(2) was an important—not a superfluous—statutory provision." In this regard, Congress has long warned every public official by expressly stating the following:
  Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be subject to specified criminal penalties.
  According to § 1252(f)(1), "no court (other than the Supreme Court)" is authorized to determine which two or more people in removal proceedings should be recognized as nationals of the United States (Americans). This includes parents and children or relatives. The remaining courts, however, are fully empowered by §§ 1252(b)(5), 1252(e) and 1252(f)(2) to, inter alia, issue an injunction to cancel or terminate any person's removal proceedings; return any previously removed person to the United States; and/or to confer United States nationality upon any person (but only using a case-by-case analysis). In addition to that, under 8 C.F.R. 239.2, any immigration official mentioned in 8 C.F.R. 239.1 may at any time move to: (1) terminate the removal proceedings of any person who turns out to be an American; or (2) cancel the removal proceedings of anyone who is clearly not "removable" under the INA. The burden of proof is on the alien (or the American) to establish a prima facie entitlement to re-admission after the deportation has been completed.
caption: Any person (or class of people) may take his or her deportation-related case to the U.S. Supreme Court by invoking 8 U.S.C. §§ 1252(a)(1) and 1252(f).[66]
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