Opinion ID: 182331
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988

Text: Congress first made conviction for an aggravated felony a deportable offense in 1988, when it amended the INA through the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (ADAA). See ADAA § 7344(a). At that time, the statutory definition of aggravated felony did not include theft offenses or crimes of violence. Section 7344(b) of the ADAA provided that the amendments applied only to any alien who has been convicted, on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, of an aggravated felony. Therefore, under the ADAA, only aliens convicted of an aggravated felony on or after November 18, 1988 were deportable. In his petition, Alvarado-Fonseca relies on the temporal restriction set forth in ADAA § 7344(b) for his position that he cannot be deported for his 1984 conviction.