Opinion ID: 2976317
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Relief nunc pro tunc

Text: Ramirez-Canales makes an additional argument that he is entitled to relief under § 1255(i) nunc pro tunc. Nunc pro tunc relief is an equitable power to grant an order now as if it were granted sometime in the past. Edwards v. INS, 393 F.3d 299, 308 (2d Cir. 2004). In Patel v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 685, 693 (6th Cir. 2005), this Court explained: A nunc pro tunc order is an order that has retroactive legal effect. The BIA has long used nunc pro tunc orders to remedy the harshness of United States immigration laws. Among other uses, the BIA has issued nunc pro tunc orders to retroactively legalize an alien’s admission into the United States thereby eliminating the grounds for deporting the alien. (internal citations omitted). As an equitable power, its scope is broad, and should be applied as justice requires so long as it is not barred by statute. Edwards, 393 F.3d at 310. While the equitable power to grant orders nunc pro tunc is conceptually broad, its actual application by the Board appears to be limited to two general situations. First, the Board uses the power to retroactively grant the Attorney General’s discretion to permit an alien to reapply for admission after being deported and subsequently reentering the country. See, e.g., In re Felipe Garcia-Linares, 21 I. & N. Dec. 254 (BIA 1996); Matter of Rapacon, 14 I&N Dec. 375 (R.C. 1973); In the Matter of S----- N----- 6 I. & N. Dec. 73 (BIA 1954); In the Matter of L----- 1 I. & N. Dec. 1 (A.G. 1940). Second, the Board uses the power to apply the law as it existed at the time of the violation instead of current law. See Patel v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 685, 693 (6th Cir. 2005); Matter of T, 6 I. & N. Dec. 410, 413-14 (BIA 1954). But see Matter of Talanoa, 13 I. & N. Dec. 161 (BIA 1969). The first line of cases is of little help to petitioners as those precedents turn on the Attorney General’s discretionary authority. Most of these cases were decided under old section 212(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that gave the Attorney General discretion to grant requests for permission to reapply following deportation or removal. However, under current law, the Attorney General has no such discretion for ten years after an alien has violated § 1182(a)(9)(C)(i). See In re Torres-Garcia, 23 I. & N. Dec. 866 (BIA 2006). The Board has found that the Attorney General cannot use nunc pro tunc relief to grant retroactively what could not be granted prospectively. Id. at 876. The second line of cases is inapplicable to this case since the law has not changed. The immigration judge denied Ramirez-Canales relief nunc pro tunc under the first line of cases because the Attorney General has no discretion to waive violations of § 1182(a)(9)(C)(i). However, the relief sought by Ramirez-Canales is of a different nature. He requests that the court grant his application for adjustment of status retroactively – which would have the effect of undoing his subsequent violation of § 1182(a)(9). In that case, no waiver would be required because there would be no violation to waive. There is some support for this argument from past Board decisions. See Matter of T, 6 I. & N. Dec. at 414 (BIA 1954) (granting a waiver of violations under an old law Nos. 05-4504; 06-3990 Ramirez-Canales, et al. v. Mukasey Page 6 and thereby eliminating the grounds for a violation of a subsequent law). While the availability of this type of relief is unclear, we are hesitant to find the Board is without such authority since it could serve an important error-correcting function. For example, if the agency were at fault in delaying Ramirez-Canales’s application for adjustment of status until after the date at which he was required to leave the country, the Board could use nunc pro tunc authority to grant relief. Because neither the Board nor the immigration judge addressed the availability of this type of nunc pro tunc relief, we remand the case for a determination of whether the Board may retroactively grant RamirezCanales’s application for adjustment of status.