Opinion ID: 678881
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Did the Board Inexplicably Depart from Prior Policies?

Text: 58 Even if the Board is not required to incorporate the California diversion regime in its section 212(c) analysis as a matter of statutory interpretation, it cannot refuse to do so if it would thereby act[ ] arbitrarily [by] disregard[ing] its own precedents and policies without giving a reasonable explanation for doing so. Braun v. INS, 992 F.2d 1016, 1019 (9th Cir.1993). Petitioner notes that, in In re Zignis, 14 I. & N. Dec. 621 (BIA 1974), the BIA held that a conviction set aside under the FYCA could not serve as the basis for deportation because such a result would be inconsistent with Congress's objective of rehabilitat[ing] youthful offenders. In re Zignis, 14 I. & N. Dec. at 622. Section 1000.5, Petitioner contends, has the same purpose of  'restor[ing] a successful divertee to productive citizenship without the stigma of a criminal conviction.'  Brief for Petitioner at 17 (quoting B.W. v. Board of Medical Quality Assurance, 169 Cal.App.3d 219, 233, 215 Cal.Rptr. 130 (1985)). Accordingly, Petitioner maintains that because the BIA gave effect to the FYCA in Zignis, it similarly must respect the California diversion scheme here. 59 Petitioner's analogy to Zignis is misplaced. Zignis did not hold, as Petitioner appears to contend, that an expunging or diversion statute will be given effect by the Board whenever it reflects a rehabilitative goal. The rationale behind Zignis was that when a federal policy indicates that Congress wishes to expunge a conviction, it should not be considered a conviction for immigration purposes. See In re Zignis, 14 I. & N. Dec. at 622-23 (The desire of Congress to give youth a new chance would be thwarted by deportation. Its policy provides for expungement of offenses by juveniles is as important a congressional policy as the policy to deport narcotics offenders.). 60 The California diversion scheme, of course, is a state and not a federal enactment. Petitioner's reliance on Zignis would still have force, however, if a federal policy exists for which the California diversion is a state equivalent; as discussed above, the BIA has a long-standing practice, based on the objective of achieving greater uniformity in the administration of the immigration laws, of giving effect to state rehabilitative statutes that mirror federal enactments. See supra pp. 811-812 & n. 11. 61 The BIA's practice, however, is not implicated in this case. The most plausible federal policy for which section 1000.5 could constitute a state equivalent is that found in 21 U.S.C. Sec. 844(b)(2) and 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3607(c), discussed above. See supra pp. 810-812; see also In re Deris, Interim Dec. 3102, 1989 WL 331858, 1989 BIA LEXIS 8, at  7- 13 (holding that the state equivalent policy continues to apply to section 3607). However, as noted previously, the California provision, unlike sections 844(b)(2) and 3607(c), is not limited to those under 21 years of age, and the Board has held that, to qualify for state equivalent status, the state statute must encompass roughly the same limited class as the federal statute. See, e.g., Matter of Carrillo, 19 I. & N. Dec. 77, 80 (BIA 1984); Matter of Forstner, 18 I. & N. Dec. 374, 376 (BIA 1983); Matter of Golshan, 18 I. & N. Dec. 92, 95 (BIA 1981). 14 Of course, if the California statute were so limited, Petitioner, who was 28 at the time of the arrest in question, would not qualify under it. Similarly, assuming arguendo that the California regime qualifies as a state equivalent of section 844a for some purposes, as explained above section 844a's expunging provision does not reach records of arrest or inquiries concerning arrests. For this reason, the broader expunging provisions found in section 1000.5, in the context of this particular case, cannot be considered the state equivalent of section 844a(j). 62 Our recent decision in Garberding v. INS, 30 F.3d 1187 (9th Cir.1994), does not change this analysis. There, we held that the INS's policy that a state expunging statute must be an exact counterpart to the FFOS, under certain circumstances, violated an alien's right to equal protection. Id. at 1190-91. Garberding, however, involved the situation in which the alien would have been able to avoid deportation had she been convicted in a jurisdiction that possessed an expunging regime that precisely mirrored the FFOS. See id. The vice of the INS's policy, as applied in that case, was the lack of any rational basis for not respecting the state expunging statute at least to the same extent to which other state expunging regimes would be honored. We did not hold, however, that a rational basis was lacking for refusing to honor a state expunging statute in a case in which the conviction would not have been expunged under the FFOS. For instance, in Garberding, had the petitioner been convicted of an offense more serious than simple possession she might have been eligible for expunging under the Montana statute at issue but not under the FFOS. See id. at 1189-90. Nothing in the Garberding court's analysis would require giving effect to the Montana statute in this situation. Indeed, reaching the opposite conclusion would undermine the very objective of achieving greater uniformity in the administration of the immigration laws that, as discussed above, the INS's policy of giving effect to state equivalents of the FFOS is designed to serve. 63 We therefore conclude there is a rational basis for refusing to give effect to a state expunging regime to the extent that it covers a broader class of conduct than a comparable federal enactment. The same reasoning applies to the INS's refusal to give effect to a state expunging statute to the extent that covers a broader class of persons than the relevant federal enactment. Accordingly, Garberding does not require the INS to honor section 1000.5 as applied to nonyouthful offenders, who would not be eligible for expunging under the FFOS. Similarly, the interest in uniformity provides a rational basis for not giving effect to a state expunging regime to the extent that it provides more generous consequences upon expunging than the relevant federal statute. For this reason, section 844a does not require the INS to respect section 1000.5 to the extent that section 1000.5 permits the expunging of arrest records. 64