Opinion ID: 577037
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Eligibility for an automatic stay

Text: 4 First, Ignacio argues that he qualifies for an automatic stay of deportation because Congress did not intend for the aggravated felony exception to apply to convictions before 1988. Section 1105a(a)(3) serves to stay a final order of deportation automatically pending judicial review of the Board decision, unless the court otherwise directs or unless the alien is convicted of an aggravated felony. Id. The Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT) amended this section to provide further that, if the alien has been convicted of an aggravated felony, the Service shall not stay the deportation of the alien pending determination of the petition of the court unless the court otherwise directs. In December, new legislation amended this provision so that it would apply to convictions entered before, on, or after [the effective] date. Miscellaneous and Technical Immigration and Naturalization Amendments of 1991 (Technical Amendments), Pub.L. No. 102-232, 105 Stat. 1733, § 306(a)(11) (amending IMMACT § 513(b)). This amendment take[s] effect as if included in the enactment of the Immigration Act of 1990. Technical Amendments § 310(1). 5 We have not yet confronted the question of whether the newly amended automatic stay provision would apply to aliens in Ignacio's situation. Before the passage of the Technical Amendments, the Ninth Circuit held that Congress intended the IMMACT amendment to the automatic stay provision to apply only prospectively to aliens who are convicted of aggravated felonies on or after the effective date of the Anti-Drug Abuse Amendment (November 18, 1988), when the term aggravated felony was first added to the Immigration and Nationality Act. Ayala-Chavez v. INS, 945 F.2d 288, 294-95 (9th Cir.1991) (addressing the question as one of first impression). Ayala-Chavez reasoned that the structure and language of the ADAA indicate that Congress intended for the deportation-related provisions to operate only prospectively. See id. at 291-93. However, Ayala-Chavez recognized that § 513(b) of the IMMACT did not in any way address the substantive retroactivity question--when the conviction must have occurred. 945 F.2d at 291 n. 5 (emphasis in original). The Technical Amendments answer this question. 6 Congress added the on, before, or after language to the effective date provision accompanying the 1990 revision of § 1105a(a)(3). See Technical Amendments § 306(a)(11) (amending § 513(b) of IMMACT). Ignacio maintains that § 306(a)(11) of the Technical Amendments was not intended to preclude aggravated felons from obtaining an automatic stay if their convictions predated the passage of the ADAA. We disagree. The insertion of the on, before, or after language demonstrates a clear intent to bar from an automatic stay those aliens whose convictions fall under the definition of aggravated felony, regardless of the date of those convictions. Cf. United States v. Koziel, 954 F.2d 831, 833, (2d Cir.1992) (holding that on, before, or after language in IMMACT § 505(b) gives provision eliminating judicial recommendations against deportation full retroactive effect); United States v. Bodre, 948 F.2d 28, 35 (1st Cir.1991) (same). 7 It would distort the plain meaning of this language to limit the application of the § 1105a(a)(3) bar to convictions for aggravated felonies following the enactment of the ADAA. Further, it is well settled that Congress has the authority to make past criminal activity a new ground for deportation. See id. at 32, citing Lehman v. United States ex rel. Carson, 353 U.S. 685, 690, 77 S.Ct. 1022, 1024, 1 L.Ed.2d 1122 (1957) (alien convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude in 1936 found deportable under Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952); Mulcahey v. Catalanotte, 353 U.S. 692, 694, 77 S.Ct. 1025, 1027, 1 L.Ed.2d 1127 (1957) (alien with 1923 narcotics convictions found deportable under 1952 Act); cf. Harisiades v. Shaughnessy, 342 U.S. 580, 593-96, 72 S.Ct. 512, 520-22, 96 L.Ed. 586 (1952) (upholding retroactive application of 1940 statute that made deportable aliens who had joined the communist party at any time after entering the United States). In view of the plain language of amended § 513(b) of IMMACT and this precedent, we hold that 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(3) applies to any alien who has been convicted of an offense that falls within the definition of aggravated felony found at 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(B)(i), regardless of the date of that conviction. Consequently, Ignacio is precluded from obtaining an automatic stay of deportation.