Opinion ID: 202054
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Luna's Background and Deportation Proceedings

Text: 3 Luna, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, entered the United States as a 5-day-old lawful permanent resident in 1973. His immediate family members, including his mother, father, and siblings, all live in the United States. Luna spent most of his childhood in Rhode Island, where he attended school until the 9th grade. Since that time, he has lived in New York and Rhode Island. 4 On April 9, 1993, at age 20, Luna was ordered deported after he was convicted in state court of third degree grand larceny. He returned to the United States at some point thereafter. On January 22, 1996, Luna pled guilty in state court to second degree assault. He was sentenced to three to six years imprisonment. While he was serving his sentence, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) issued an Order to Show Cause charging that Luna was deportable on several grounds, including his assault conviction and his previous deportation order and reentry. Given serious problems regarding the validity of the previous deportation order, 2 the Immigration Judge (IJ) found that Luna was deportable on the sole ground of being an alien convicted of an aggravated felony, see Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) (formerly INA § 241(a)(2)(A)(iii), 8 U.S.C. § 1251 (redesignated 1996)), based on his second degree assault conviction. 5 During his hearing before the IJ, Luna applied for discretionary relief, requesting a waiver of deportation under former INA § 212(c). 8 U.S.C. § 1182(c) (repealed 1996). 3 The IJ did not consider the merits of Luna's application for relief, stating in his oral decision that the respondent is statutorily barred from this and any other forms of relief from deportation under the Attorney General's decision in In re Soriano, 21 I. & N. Dec. 516, 1996 WL 426888 (BIA 1996, A.G.1997). 4 6 In Soriano, the Attorney General determined that recent statutory amendments to the INA prevented all individuals with aggravated felony convictions in removal proceedings from obtaining discretionary relief from deportation. See id. at 533-40, 1996 WL 426888; see also Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996) (codified in various titles); Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (1996) (codified in various titles). 5 Although Luna pled guilty to second degree assault before the relevant provisions of AEDPA and IIRIRA went into effect, the IJ concluded that, under Soriano, Luna could not apply for discretionary relief. 7 Luna, who was represented by a non-lawyer accredited representative, 6 appealed the IJ decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). On June 10, 1998, the BIA affirmed, also relying on Soriano, telling Luna that he was statutorily ineligible for [§ 212(c)] relief. Luna did not appeal the agency's decision in federal court. On November 8, 1999, he was deported for a second time. 8