Opinion ID: 3029938
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Waiver authorized

Text: For provision authorizing waiver of clause (i), see subsection (d)(11) of this section. MORAN v. ASHCROFT 901 The waiver section provides, in turn: The Attorney General may, in his discretion for humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, or when it is otherwise in the public interest, waive application of clause (i) of subsection (a)(6)(E) of this section in the case of any alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence who temporarily proceeded abroad voluntarily and not under an order of removal, and who is otherwise admissible to the United States as a returning resident under section 1181(b) of this title and in the case of an alien seeking admission or adjustment of status as an immediate relative or immigrant under section 1153(a) of this title (other than paragraph (4) thereof), if the alien has encouraged, induced, assisted, abetted, or aided only an individual who at the time of such action was the alien’s spouse, parent, son, or daughter (and no other individual) to enter the United States in violation of law. 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(11). [3] The application of this statutory scheme in the cancellation of removal context is an issue of first impression in the Ninth Circuit. Cf. Khourassany v. INS, 208 F.3d 1096, 1101 (9th Cir. 2000) (applying the alien smuggling rule to the good moral character requirement in the context of a determination of eligibility for voluntary departure). As the referenced statutory sections relating to alien smuggling are written to apply to inadmissibility and not to cancellation of removal, it is necessary to extrapolate from these provisions in order to make sense of them in the cancellation of removal context while giving effect to the family unification policies Congress expressed in the statute. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(E)(ii) (entitled “Special rule in the case of family reunification”); id. § 1182(d)(11) (providing for waiver specifically “to assure family unity”). 902 MORAN v. ASHCROFT [4] Translating the alien-smuggling inadmissibility provision and its exceptions into the language of cancellation of removal requires that we replace references to admissibility, applications for admission, and adjustment of status with references to cancellation of removal. See Gonzalez-Gonzalez v. Ashcroft, 390 F.3d 649, 652 (9th Cir. 2004) (explaining that the cancellation of removal statute must be read “to crossreference [the relevant concepts] in [other] statutes, rather than the statutes as a whole”). Doing so yields the following set of rules: 1. An alien fails the good moral character requirement for cancellation of removal if, during the relevant period of continuous physical presence, the alien “at any time knowingly has encouraged, induced, assisted, abetted, or aided any other alien to enter or to try to enter the United States in violation of law.” 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(E)(i). 2. However, an alien does not fail the good moral character requirement for cancellation of removal if the alien “is an eligible immigrant (as defined in section 301(b)(1) of the Immigration Act of 1990 [set out as a note to 8 U.S.C. § 1255a]), was physically present in the United States on May 5, 1988,” and “before May 5, 1988, has encouraged, induced, assisted, abetted, or aided only the alien’s spouse, parent, son, or daughter (and no other individual) to enter the United States in violation of law.” 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(E)(ii). 3. The alien also does not fail the good moral char- acter requirement for cancellation of removal where the Attorney General exercises discretion to waive the applicability of § 1182(a)(6)(E)(i). Such discretion may be exercised “for humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, or when it is otherwise in the public interest,” to waive the applicability of the MORAN v. ASHCROFT 903 alien-smuggling provision to the good moral character determination of an applicant for cancellation of removal who “has encouraged, induced, assisted, abetted, or aided only an individual who at the time of such action was the alien’s spouse, parent, son, or daughter (and no other individual) to enter the United States in violation of law.” 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(11) (cross-referenced by 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(E)(iii)). [5] Because cancellation of removal is discretionary in any event, the exception and the waiver provisions have the same effect on the eligibility of an applicant for cancellation of removal: where an applicant qualifies under either paragraph (2) or paragraph (3) above, the alien-smuggling provision of paragraph (1) does not operate to deny the applicant statutory eligibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(B) for cancellation of removal. In the case of an applicant who falls under paragraph (2) above, eligibility is preserved as a matter of law. In the case of an applicant who meets the criteria for a waiver under paragraph (3) above, eligibility is preserved because the Attorney General may waive the applicability of the aliensmuggling provision as part of the discretionary grant of cancellation of removal. Therefore an applicant for cancellation of removal who lacks good moral character under paragraph (1) above nonetheless remains eligible for cancellation of removal if the applicant qualifies for the exception under paragraph (2) above or the waiver under paragraph (3) above. [6] Applying these rules to Moran’s case is straightforward. Moran’s encouragement of his son’s and future wife’s illegal entry did not occur before May 5, 1988; therefore, Moran is ineligible for the exception to the alien smuggling rule under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(E)(ii). Moran would be eligible for the waiver of the alien-smuggling rule under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(E)(iii) if the only individuals he had helped smuggle into the country were his son and his spouse. However, Ana was not yet Moran’s wife when he helped her and 904 MORAN v. ASHCROFT their son enter illegally. The applicable language of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(11) is very clear: the waiver applies to an individual who “has encouraged, induced, assisted, abetted, or aided only an individual who at the time of such action was the alien’s spouse, parent, son, or daughter (and no other individual) to enter the United States in violation of law.” Therefore, Moran is ineligible for waiver of the alien-smuggling provision.3