Opinion ID: 2731238
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Initial Deportation Proceedings

Text: Guerrero was admitted to the United States on May 8, 1986, as a lawful permanent resident. On May 13, 1991, he was convicted of criminal possession of a controlled substance in violation of New York law. By virtue of this conviction, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)1 commenced deportation proceedings against Guerrero in September 1995, filing an Order to Show Cause (OSC) with the immigration court. The INS charged Guerrero with deportability under § 241(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1 The INS's enforcement functions have since been transferred to the Department of Homeland Security. Chedid v. Holder, 573 F.3d 33, 34 n.1 (1st Cir. 2009). For purposes of this opinion, we refer to the agency in place at the time the deportation proceedings commenced: the INS. -2- 1251(a)(2)(B)(i),2 as an alien convicted of violating a controlled substance law, and submitted the conviction record as evidence. Appearing with counsel before an immigration judge (IJ) on April 16, 1996, Guerrero (through written pleadings) admitted the OSC's factual allegations, and conceded his deportability as charged. As relief from deportation, however, Guerrero sought a waiver of inadmissibility under former INA § 212(c). See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(c), repealed by Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104–208, Title III, § 304(b), 110 Stat. 3009, 3009–597.3 At a later hearing on March 11, 1997, the IJ gave Guerrero the opportunity to withdraw his pleadings admitting the OSC's allegations and conceding deportability, and to contest deportability. When he declined, the IJ ruled that Guerrero's admissions and concession of deportability, along with the evidence on the record, sustained the charge of deportability. The IJ then pretermitted Guerrero's application for § 212(c) relief -- finding the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (AEDPA), precluded § 212(c) relief 2 Now INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i). 3 Repealed in 1996, [t]he former § 212(c) granted the Attorney General broad discretion to terminate deportation proceedings against an excludable alien. For decades, the class of aliens eligible for such relief included aliens ordered . . . deportable because of multiple convictions involving crimes of moral turpitude. Nadal-Ginard v. Holder, 558 F.3d 61, 64 n.4 (1st Cir. 2009). -3- for all aliens deportable by reason of having committed any [controlled substance] offenses -- and ordered his deportation. Guerrero appealed the IJ's decision to the BIA on April 8, 1997. On February 28, 2000, while the appeal was still pending before the BIA, Guerrero pled nolo contendere in Rhode Island state court to a charge of manufacturing/delivering a schedule I/II controlled substance (cocaine), for which he received a deferred sentence of five years.4 On July 31, 2000, the BIA (unaware of the Rhode Island conviction) sustained Guerrero's appeal of the IJ's March 11, 1997 decision because the AEDPA restrictions the IJ relied on did not apply retroactively to proceedings commenced on or before April 24, 1996, and Guerrero's proceedings had commenced when he was served with the OSC on September 15, 1995. It remanded the record back to the IJ to allow Guerrero the opportunity to apply for § 212(c) relief. On September 7, 2000, during a hearing on remand, INS orally amended the OSC to reflect the Rhode Island conviction. According to the INS, Guerrero was now also subject to deportation under former INA § 241(a)(2)(A)(iii), 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(A)(iii),5 as an alien who, at any time after admission, is convicted of an aggravated felony. The IJ, finding the Rhode Island conviction qualified as an aggravated felony, 4 The charged offense was committed on September 16, 1998. 5 Now INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). -4- again pretermitted Guerrero's claim for § 212(c) relief on September 10, 2001, and ordered him removed and deported to the Dominican Republic on the two charges lodged against him.6 Guerrero timely appealed to the BIA. And on January 23, 2002, the BIA affirmed the IJ's September 10, 2001 decision, agreeing that Guerrero's Rhode Island conviction precluded him from § 212(c) relief. Guerrero was physically removed from the United States to the Dominican Republic on September 18, 2002.