Opinion ID: 747832
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jurisdiction: AEDPA and Basis for BIA's Deportation Order

Text: 37 The INS also filed a motion to dismiss with this court, arguing that Section 440(a) of AEDPA, apart from IIRIRA, deprives this court of jurisdiction to hear this case. That section ousts the jurisdiction of the federal courts to review the deportation petitions of, among other classes of aliens, aliens deportable by reason of firearms offenses under 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(C). The INS contends that Choeum's burglary conviction was such an offense. However, at the deportation proceedings, the INS did not assert the burglary offense as a basis for deportation. Instead, the INS rested on the kidnapping offense, although the INS did not argue that the kidnapping was also a firearms offense. The INS's argument seems to be that because it might have sought to deport Choeum based on her burglary-firearms conviction, even though it chose not to do so, this court lacks jurisdiction to review Choeum's deportation based upon her kidnapping non-firearms offense because this court lacks jurisdiction over a burglary-firearms based deportation, even though this was not the basis for deportation. 38 Section 440(a) of AEDPA amended Section 106(a)(10) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(10), 5 to provide that final orders of deportation against aliens who are deportable by reason of having committed certain types of criminal offenses, including firearms offenses, shall not be subject to review by any court. AEDPA § 440(a), 110 Stat. at 1276-77. This provision of AEDPA applies to pending cases. Kolster v. INS, 101 F.3d 785, 790 (1st Cir.1996). Under AEDPA, judicial review remains available to aliens who have committed other types of offenses, including aliens who have been convicted of only one crime of moral turpitude. See AEDPA § 440(a); 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(A). 39 The INS contends that the first degree burglary charge to which Choeum pleaded guilty was a firearms offense as defined by Section 241(a)(2)(C) of the INA, which renders deportable any alien who is convicted under any law of ... using ... any weapon ... which is a firearm ... in violation of any law. 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(C). Therefore, the INS contends, Choeum is deportable by reason of having committed a firearms offense and Section 440(a) of AEDPA deprives this court of jurisdiction to hear her petition. 40 Choeum makes two responses to the INS's argument. First, Choeum argues that she was not, in fact, convicted of a firearms offense, as her plea colloquy reveals that she herself did not use a handgun. 6 Second, Choeum points out, correctly, that the OSC only referenced the kidnapping conviction. 41 It is undisputed that the burglary conviction was not charged as a basis for deportation in the OSC, and that Choeum's concession of deportability only encompassed the grounds charged in the OSC, i.e. that she was in fact deportable because the kidnapping conviction was a crime of moral turpitude. The Immigration Judge did, as the INS points out, hear extensive testimony on the nature of Choeum's crime. Notably, however, he did not attempt to determine whether Choeum had used a firearm, because that was not an issue in the proceedings before him. 42 The INS's argument is essentially a linguistic one. According to the INS, for purposes of jurisdiction, aliens deportable by reason of having committed firearms offenses are not only those aliens who have been ordered deported for firearms offenses, but also those aliens who could be deported for that reason. As a matter of statutory construction, that argument is somewhat illogical: The contested phrase comes from Section 440(a) of AEDPA, a statutory section solely concerned with final orders of deportation. The section therefore applies, by its very terms, only to aliens who have actually been adjudged deportable. It is therefore highly doubtful that, in that context, Congress meant deportable by reason of to mean, as the INS would have it, potentially susceptible to being deported by reason of ... 43 The reading of the statute that the INS proposes also raises due process concerns. It is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in deportation proceedings. Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292, 306, 113 S.Ct. 1439, 1449, 123 L.Ed.2d 1 (1993). At the core of these due process rights is the right to notice of the nature of the charges and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. See, e.g., Kwong Hai Chew v. Colding, 344 U.S. 590, 596-98, 73 S.Ct. 472, 477-78, 97 L.Ed. 576 (1953); Kaczmarczyk v. INS, 933 F.2d 588, 596 (7th Cir.1991)(citing cases). 44 We do not need to determine what form of notice would be constitutionally required, because the statutory and regulatory scheme under which deportation proceedings are conducted mandate specific procedures. The INA itself provides that, in deportation proceedings, written notice--referred to as an order to show cause--shall be given to the alien specifying, among other things, [t]he charges against the alien and the statutory provisions alleged to be have been violated. 8 U.S.C. § 1252b(a)(1)(D). INS regulations permit the INS to lodge additional charges of deportability at any time during a hearing before an Immigration Judge, but specifically state that these charges must be submitted in writing for service on the alien and for entry into the record, that the Immigration Judge shall read the additional charges to the alien and explain them to her, and that the alien may have a reasonable time, including requesting a continuance, to respond to additional charges. 8 C.F.R. § 242.16(d). It is undisputed that the INS did not, at any time, reopen deportation proceedings to comply with these statutory and regulatory formalities. 45 In Hirsch v. I.N.S., 308 F.2d 562 (9th Cir.1962), the BIA had ordered petitioner deported on the basis of crimes which were admitted into evidence at his deportation hearing, but which were never added to the INS's charge against him. The court found that this procedure not only violated INS regulations similar to the ones discussed above, but also contravened basic notions of procedural due process: 46 [A]t all pertinent times, petitioner was entitled to a statement of the charges against him, to a hearing of those charges, and to answer them. 47 Procedural due process requires no less, and such due process is required in such a hearing. We have frequently commented upon the severity of the remedy of deportation, with the consequent requirement that prescribed procedures must be followed for the protection of the alien. Surely being advised of the charges upon which the proceeding is based is fundamental to due process. 48 Id. at 566-67 (internal citations omitted). 49 Here the INS is not actually attempting to deport the petitioner on uncharged grounds, but rather using uncharged grounds to cut off judicial review. However, this court has found that even arguably lesser deprivations of notice and the opportunity to be heard ran afoul of petitioner's procedural rights. Gebremichael v. INS, 10 F.3d 28, 39 (1st Cir.1993) (holding that BIA could not rely on extra-record facts concerning human rights in Ethiopia without affording petitioner an opportunity to respond). In these circumstances, where the word deportable has a meaning that the context makes plain, and the INS asks us to choose a different interpretation, we are influenced by the maxim of statutory construction that tells us to interpret statutes so as to avoid constitutional concerns. See, e.g., Frisby v. Schultz, 487 U.S. 474, 483, 108 S.Ct. 2495, 2501, 101 L.Ed.2d 420 (1988); United States v. Three Juveniles, 61 F.3d 86, 90 (1st Cir.1995). We therefore reject the INS's suggested interpretation of Section 440(a)'s use of deportable by reason of. 50 The INS suggests that this court can make the necessary determination that Choeum's offense was a firearms offense, implying that briefing and argument before this court provide sufficient notice. The INS points out that in Kolster, we termed deportability a largely mechanical determination based on facts that can often be objectively ascertained. 101 F.3d at 789. That description, of course, assumes that the necessary facts will be before the decision maker. Use of a firearm not being an issue in the proceedings below, the record before this court cannot be considered complete and the INS argument fails on pragmatic grounds. 7 More importantly, it is not the institutional role of this court to serve as a factfinding body on issues of first impression. 51 We hold that the INS cannot, consistent with due process and the statutory and regulatory requirements governing its own proceedings, substitute new grounds for deportation at this stage in the proceedings, solely for the purposes of depriving the federal courts of jurisdiction. 8 We therefore need not determine whether or not Choeum's conviction for burglary in the first degree constitutes a firearms offense. We turn to Choeum's claims of legal error, based on the grounds on which the INS actually proceeded.