Opinion ID: 725554
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Is it Permissible?

Text: 40 We next must decide whether the INS's construction of the statute is permissible. That is, is it permissible to construe subsection (B) as a border-crossing mechanism? We conclude that it is. 41 The Fleuti doctrine itself is a border-crossing mechanism, whereby lawful resident aliens are not deemed to have entered the country if an absence was not intended meaningfully to disrupt permanent residency in the United States. 374 U.S. at 462, 83 S.Ct. at 1812. Given the historical function of the Fleuti doctrine, the INS was perfectly justified in concluding that Congress intended § 1255a(a)(3)(B) to extend to the border. See Lorillard, 434 U.S. at 583, 98 S.Ct. at 871-72 (presumption that Congress intends statutory phrases adopted from common law to have the same well-known meaning of common law). 42 Moreover, the legislative history confirms that Congress was well aware of the historical meaning of the Fleuti doctrine when it enacted § 1255a(a)(3)(B). De Oliveira v. United States INS, 873 F.Supp. 338, 343 (C.D.Cal.1994) (citing H.R.Rep. No. 682(I), 99th Cong., 2d Sess. 116 (1986), reprinted in 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5649, 5720). 3 Accordingly, because the agency's construction of the statute conforms with congressional intent, we hold that the INS's construction of § 1255a(a)(3)(B) as a border-control mechanism is a permissible construction of the statute. 43