Opinion ID: 11189
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Recent Amendments to our Jurisdiction

Text: 5 During the pendency of Pichardo's appeal to this Court, the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 1 (AEDPA) was enacted. It amended our jurisdiction over final orders of the BIA so as to preclude our review of certain matters. See Mendez-Rosas v. INS, 87 F.3d 672 (5th Cir.1996), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 694, 136 L.Ed.2d 617 (1997). The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 2 (IIRIRA) was also enacted during the pendency of Pichardo's appeal, and it, among other things, amended the AEDPA's amendments of our jurisdiction of BIA final orders of deportation. We have previously determined that the AEDPA's withdrawal of jurisdiction applies to appeals of BIA final deportation orders pending at the time of the AEDPA's enactment. Id. Because the relevant amendment of the IIRIRA is likewise jurisdictional in nature, it is also applicable to appeals pending at the time of the effective date of the IIRIRA's relevant provision. 3 See Id. at 674. We turn to the combined amendments of the AEDPA and the IIRIRA to determine if their jurisdiction withdrawal includes the case at hand. 6 Section 440(a) of the AEDPA, together with section 306(d) of the IIRIRA, amended our source of appellate jurisdiction by providing, in pertinent part, that [a]ny final order of deportation against an alien who is deportable by reason of having committed a criminal offense ... covered by section 241(a)(2)(A)(ii) for which both predicate offenses are, without regard to the date of their commission, otherwise covered by section 241(a)(2)(A)(i), shall not be subject to review by any court (emphasis added). Section 241(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the Act is the section under which Pichardo was found deportable. It provides for deportability for aliens with two or more after-entry convictions of crimes involving moral turpitude, that did not arise from a single scheme of criminal misconduct, regardless of whether confinement was imposed or whether the convictions were in a single trial. See 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(A)(ii). 7 According to the plain language of the combined amendments of the AEDPA and the IIRIRA, judicial review is precluded for deportation orders based on 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(A)(ii) only when two of the moral turpitude offenses supporting deportation are covered by section 241(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act, disregarding the provision related to the date of the crime's commission. Any final order of deportation against an alien who is deportable by reason of having committed a criminal offense ... covered by section 241(a)(2)(A)(ii) for which both predicate offenses are, without regard to the date of their commission, otherwise covered by section 241(a)(2)(A)(i), shall not be subject to review by any court (emphasis added). AEDPA § 440(a), IIRIRA § 306(d), 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(10) (1996) (to be recodified at 8 U.S.C. § 1252) (emphasis added). We next inquire as to whether at least two of Pichardo's convictions that serve as the basis for his deportation are covered by section 241(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act. 8 Section 241(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act was also amended by the AEDPA. See AEDPA, § 435 (1996), 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(A)(i) (as amended). However, in contrast with AEDPA § 440(a), the jurisdiction withdrawal provision, AEDPA § 435 includes an express provision for its effective date. See Mendez-Rosas, 87 F.3d at 675. Section 435 of the AEDPA provides that it shall apply to aliens against whom deportation proceedings are initiated after the date of the enactment of this Act. AEDPA, § 435(b) (1996). The AEDPA was enacted in April 1996 and Pichardo's Order to Show Cause was issued in 1992. Thus, the unamended version of section 241(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act is to be followed for Pichardo since his deportation proceedings were initiated before the AEDPA's enactment. Pursuant to amended 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(10), we must determine if at least two of Pichardo's convictions that serve as the basis for his deportation are covered by section 241(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act, as unamended and disregarding that provision's reference to the date of the alien's crimes. 9 Section 241(a)(2)(A)(i), as unamended and omitting any reference to the date of the crime's commission per the command of IIRIRA § 306(d), reads as follows. 10 an alien who-- 11 (I) is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude ... after the date of entry, and 12 (II) either is sentenced to confinement or is confined therefor in a prison or correctional institution for one year or longer, 13 is deportable. 14 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(A)(i) (unamended) (emphasis added). Thus, the convictions precluding jurisdiction must have been (1) for crimes involving moral turpitude and (2) their sentences or confinements must have been for one year or longer. 15