Opinion ID: 75478
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: fernandez-bernal's constitutional challenge

Text: 30 Fernandez-Bernal contends that the BIA's decision to affirm the immigration judge's order of removal violates his right to equal protection of the laws. The Fifth Amendment guarantees all individuals in the United States - including aliens - the right to due process. See Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 210, 102 S.Ct. 2382, 2391 (1982) (Aliens, even aliens whose presence in this country is unlawful, have long been recognized as 'persons' guaranteed due process of law by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.); Mathews v. Diaz, 426 U.S. 67, 77, 96 S.Ct. 1883, 1890 (1976) (the Fifth Amendment protects aliens from unlawful discrimination by the Federal Government); Richardson, 162 F.3d at 1362-63 & n.114 (aliens who have established permanent resident status are entitled to due process without regard to whether they are arriving aliens for the purposes of immigration law). And the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment incorporates the guarantees of equal protection. See Johnson v. Robison, 415 U.S. 361, 364 n.4, 94 S.Ct. 1160, 1165 n.4 (1974); Yeung v. INS, 76 F.3d 337, 339 (11th Cir. 1995); Garberding v. INS, 30 F.3d 1187, 1190 (9th Cir. 1994). 31 Because federal authority over aliens is plenary, federal classifications that distinguish among groups of aliens are subject to relaxed scrutiny under the rational basis standard of review, and are valid unless arbitrary or unreasonable. Yeung, 76 F.3d at 339. According to the rational basis standard, such classifications must be reasonable, not arbitrary, and must rest upon some ground of difference having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation, so that all persons similarly circumstanced shall be treated alike. Stanton v. Stanton, 421 U.S. 7, 14, 95 S.Ct. 1373, 1377 (1975) (quotation marks and citation omitted); see Yeung, 76 F.3d at 339; Garberding, 30 F.3d at 1190-91; Francis v. INS, 532 F.2d 268, 272 (2d Cir. 1976). 32 Fernandez-Bernal argues that the Board's application of IIRIRA § 1101(a)(48)(A) creates two classes of aliens identical in every respect except for the fact that the members of one class have had their drug convictions expunged under the Federal First Offender Act (FFOA), 18 U.S.C. § 3607, while members of the other class have had their drug convictions expunged under a state rehabilitative statute. Only the latter class, Fernandez-Bernal claims, stands convicted, and thus removable, pursuant to IIRIRA § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II). He maintains that this distinction is arbitrary and unreasonable. 33 Fernandez-Bernal's constitutional challenge is better understood after a brief review of the background of the FFOA, and how that statute relates to the term conviction in IIRIRA § 1101(a)(48)(A). 34
35 Prior to the passage of IIRIRA, the BIA's definition of conviction for immigration purposes was fluid. In the absence of a statutory definition, the BIA struggled to construct one of its own that was consistent with the myriad rehabilitative statutes which provide expungement procedures. See generally Matter of Roldan-Santoyo, Int. Dec. 3377 (BIA 1999), order vacated sub nom. Lujan-Armendariz v. INS, 222 F.3d 728 (9th Cir. 2000). One such statute, the FFOA, allows certain drug offenders who are prosecuted under federal law to avoid some of the harsh consequences that often result from drug convictions. 9 It grants a sentencing court discretion to place a first-time drug offender who has been found guilty of simple possession of a controlled substance on probation for a term of not more than one year. See 18 U.S.C. § 3607(a). If the offender successfully completes the term of probation, the FFOA instructs the court to dismiss the proceedings and discharge the offender from probation. Id. More importantly, the statute provides that a case disposed of under its provisions shall not be considered a conviction for the purpose of a disqualification or a disability imposed by law upon conviction of a crime, or for any other purpose. Id. § 3607(b) (emphasis added). 36 Prior to the enactment of the FFOA, the BIA had a longstanding policy of disregarding the expungement of drug convictions. See Matter of A- F-, 8 I & N Dec. 429, 445-46 (BIA, A.G. 1959). See generally Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 734-43 (providing history of legal developments this area). After the enactment of the FFOA, however, the INS changed its policy on expungements. In Matter of Werk, 16 I & N Dec. 234 (BIA 1977), the BIA held that a drug offense expunged under the FFOA, or under any of the various state law counterparts to the FFOA, was not a conviction for immigration purposes and, therefore, could not serve as a predicate for deportation. A state law counterpart was identified by the BIA as a state rehabilitative statute that was no broader in scope than the FFOA. In re Manrique, 21 I & N Dec. 58 (BIA 1995). 37 Eventually the BIA expanded this new policy to include expungements under more general state rehabilitative statutes. Many state statutes are not exact counterparts to the FFOA. They are either not limited to the expungement of drug possession offenses, or are not limited to the expungement of first offenses. See Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 737-38. Under the reasoning of Werk and other Board decisions, see, e.g., Matter of Deris, 20 I & N Dec. 5 (BIA 1989), aliens whose offenses were expunged under these more general rehabilitative statutes were not eligible for first offender treatment, even though they were guilty only of first-time simple possession. That resulted in what was perceived to be inconsistent treatment of those who were similarly situated. 38 In order to eliminate this perceived inconsistency, and thereby effectuate a more uniform and fair application of the immigration laws, the BIA did away with the requirement that drug offenses be expunged under state law counterparts to the FFOA. See Manrique. The Board held in Manrique that an alien who has been accorded rehabilitative treatment under a state statute will not be deported if he establishes that he would have been eligible for federal first offender treatment under the provisions of [the FFOA] had he been prosecuted under federal law. Id. 10 According to the Board, there was no rational basis for treating an alien whose first-time simple possession offense was expunged under a state statute differently from an alien who committed the same crime, but who was fortunate enough to have his or her offense expunged under the FFOA or a state law counterpart to the FFOA. Id. (citing Garberding, 30 F.3d at 1190-91); see also Paredes-Urrestarazu v. United States, 36 F.3d 801, 812-13 (9th Cir. 1994) (aliens who would not have been eligible for relief under the FFOA had they been prosecuted under federal law are not entitled to the benefits of the FFOA). 39 After the refined policy we have just discussed was put into place, Congress enacted IIRIRA in 1996. As part of IIRIRA Congress provided, for the first time ever, a statutory definition of conviction in § 1101(a)(48)(A). That definition states: 40 The term conviction means, with respect to an alien, a formal judgment of guilt of the alien entered by a court or, if adjudication of guilt has been withheld, where - 41 (i) a judge or jury has found the alien guilty or the alien has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or has admitted to sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt, and 42 (ii) the judge has ordered some form of punishment, penalty, or restraint on the alien's liberty to be imposed. 43 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A). 44 Section 1101(a)(48)(A) emphasizes the finding or admission of guilt as the critical factor in determining whether an alien has a conviction for immigration purposes. However, there is budding disagreement about whether it wholly negates the effect on removal cases of all state rehabilitative measures that purport to expunge or otherwise remove a conviction or other record of guilt. Compare Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 742 (finding highly unpersuasive the argument that § 1101(a)(48)(A) eliminates the INS policy that a conviction which is expunged under state rehabilitative law may not serve as a basis for removal) (dictum), with Herrera-Inirio v. INS, 208 F.3d 299, 305 (1st Cir. 2000) ([S]tate rehabilitative programs that have the effect of vacating a conviction other than on the merits or on a basis tied to the violation of a statutory or constitutional right in the underlying criminal case have no bearing in determining whether an alien is to be considered 'convicted' under section 1101(a)(48)(A).), and Nwandu v. Crocetti, 248 F.3d 1135(4th Cir. 2001) (Under the statutory definition of 'conviction' set forth in [§ 1101(a)(48)(A)] ..., no apparent effect is given to court actions which purport to expunge, dismiss, cancel, vacate, discharge, or otherwise remove a guilty plea or other record of guilt or conviction.) (unpublished disposition) (dictum). See also Roldan-Santoyo, at n.9 (We will leave the question of the effect to be given in immigration proceedings to first offender treatment accorded to an alien under [the FFOA] by a federal court to a case when that issue is directly presented.). The constitutional argument raised by Fernandez-Bernal does not require us to resolve that disagreement, but instead focuses on a narrower question: whether, consistent with equal protection, his conviction for first-time simple possession of cocaine, which was expunged under California law, can serve as a basis for removal under IIRIRA § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II), when the sentence he received would have made him ineligible for expungement under the FFOA. We hold that it can. 45
46 In affirming the immigration judge's order of removal, the BIA concluded that the statutory definition of conviction in IIRIRA § 1101(a)(48)(A) supersedes the INS policy which accords first offender treatment under the FFOA to aliens whose offenses were expunged under state law if they establish that they would have been eligible for such treatment had they been prosecuted under federal law. In support of that conclusion, the Board relied heavily on its prior decision in Roldan-Santoyo, in which it explained: 47 [S]tate action that purports to abrogate what would otherwise be considered a conviction, as the result of the application of a state rehabilitative statute, rather than as the result of a procedure that vacates a conviction on the merits or on grounds relating to a statutory or constitutional violation, has no effect in determining whether an alien has been convicted for immigration purposes. ... Congress has stated what a conviction is [in § 1101(a)(48)(A)]..., and it has not provided any exception for aliens who have been accorded rehabilitative treatment under state law. ... [T]o continue to apply a policy exception providing federal first offender treatment to certain drug offenders who have received state rehabilitative treatment, in the face of the definition provided by Congress, would be tantamount to creating a new form of relief that is not provided for in the Act. This we cannot do. 48 Roldan-Santoyo. 11 In accordance with that reasoning, the Board found that Fernandez-Bernal's first-time conviction for simple possession of cocaine could serve as a predicate for removal even though it had been expunged under California law, and affirmed the immigration judge's order of removal. 49 On appeal, Fernandez-Bernal contends that the BIA's application of IIRIRA violates his right to equal protection. He argues that the FFOA serves as a specific exception to § 1101(a)(48)(A) because IIRIRA did not repeal the FFOA in whole or in part. Accordingly, he claims, a dismissal of a first-time simple possession offense under the FFOA is still not ... considered a conviction ... for any other purpose, see 18 U.S.C. § 3607(b), including the purposes of immigration law. That being the case, Fernandez-Bernal maintains, his conviction for first-time simple possession of cocaine, which was expunged under a state rehabilitative statute, must also be viewed as an exception to § 1101(a)(48)(A). See Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 749. Otherwise, he argues, the Board's finding of removability was predicated on the fortuitous circumstance of his conviction having been expunged under state law instead of under the FFOA. Removal on that basis, Fernandez-Bernal claims, violates equal protection because it has no logical relation to the fair administration of the immigration laws, or to the war on drugs. See Garberding, 30 F.3d at 1191; see also Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 742 n.24, 749. 50 We disagree. Even if we assume that a dismissal of a drug offense under the FFOA operates as an exception to the definition of conviction in IIRIRA § 1101(a)(48)(A) and, assume further, that equal protection mandates we hold the same exception applies to certain aliens whose drug offenses were expunged under state law, Fernandez-Bernal's constitutional claim nevertheless fails. By its terms, the FFOA permits a court to place an eligible drug offender, as defined by § 3607(a)(1)-(2), see supra n.9, on probation for a term of not more than one year .... 18 U.S.C. § 3607(a). The court may thereafter dismiss the proceedings before the expiration of the probationary period without entering a judgment of conviction if the offender has not violated the terms of probation. Id. At the expiration of probation, the court shall dismiss the proceedings if the offender has not violated the terms of probation. Id. In either case, the offense is not considered a conviction ... for any other purpose. Id. § 3607(b). 51 Fernandez-Bernal could not have received FFOA expungement relief, because he was actually sentenced to two years of probation, as well as a term in jail. Relief under FFOA § 3607(b) is not available to an individual sentenced to a term of probation that exceeds one year; nor is it available to anyone sentenced to jail time. See Manrique (in order for an alien accorded rehabilitative treatment under a state statute to establish eligibility for relief under the FFOA, the state court must have entered an order ... under which the alien's criminal proceedings have been deferred pending successful completion of probation or the proceedings have been or will be dismissed after probation); see also Nwandu, 248 F.3d 1135 (alien would not have be eligible to have his conviction expunged under the FFOA because it was for smuggling drugs, not possessing drugs) (unpublished disposition) (dicta); Sanchez-Morfin v INS, 85 F.3d 637 (9th Cir. 1996) (relief under the policy exception of Manrique not available because alien violated the terms of his probation, and [t]he federal statute does not seem to help probation violators) (unpublished disposition); Parades-Urrestarazu, 36 F.3d at 812 (alien who met the eligibility requirements of FFOA § 3607(a)(1)-(2) could not receive the relief specified in § 3607(c) because that provision only applies to persons under twenty one years of age at the time of the offense, and alien was twenty-eight at the time in question). 52 The decisions relied on by Fernandez-Bernal hold only that it is irrational and violative of due process to treat aliens differently based on the breadth of the state rehabilitative statute used to expunge their offenses. See Garberding, 30 F.3d at 1190-91; Manrique; see also Carr v. INS, 86 F.3d 949, 952 (9th Cir. 1996) ([Garberding] concluded only that treating aliens differently on the basis of their state expungement statute is irrational ....). 12 Those decisions do not hold that treating aliens differently based on the nature of the sentences they received violates equal protection. Cf. Carr, 86 F.3d at 952. And, of course, it does not. 53 We conclude that Fernandez-Bernal's drug offense could not have been expunged under the FFOA had he received his sentence under federal law and, therefore, the BIA did not violate equal protection in ordering him removed from the United States. 13