Opinion ID: 172648
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Background of Immigration Laws

Text: We begin by detailing the history of the statute and regulations at issue in this case. The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 established the structure of current immigration laws, Pub.L. No. 82-414, 66 Stat. 163 (March 27, 1952) (codified at 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101-1537 (1952)). As part of an amendment of the immigration laws in 1961, Congress provided that federal courts could not exercise jurisdiction over deportation and exclusion orders where the alien had departed the United States following issuance of the order. Thus, 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(c)(1962) provided: An order of deportation or of exclusion shall not be reviewed by any court if the alien . . . has departed from the United States after issuance of the order. Three months after the enactment of the 1962 laws, the Attorney General issued implementing regulations, including 8 C.F.R. § 3.2, titled Reopening or reconsideration before the [BIA]. That regulation paralleled § 1105a(c), and provided: [A] motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider shall not be made by or on behalf of a person who is the subject of deportation proceedings subsequent to his departure from the United States. Any departure from the United States of a person who is the subject of deportation proceedings occurring after the making of a motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider shall constitute a withdrawal of such motion. 8 C.F.R. § 3.2 (1962) (currently 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(d)). 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(1) contains identical language governing motions to reopen or reconsider filed before an IJ. From the early 1960s until 1996, 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(c) remained unchanged from that 1961 version, as did the language of the regulations regarding motions to reopen or reconsider before an IJ and the BIA. All barred post-departure motions to reopen or reconsider. In April 1996, the Attorney General amended 8 C.F.R. § 3.2 and added numerical and time limits for motions to reopen and to reconsider, as well as prescribed contents for such a motion. The post-departure bar remained. In September 1996, Congress made major reforms to immigration law through its enactment of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009. Among other things, the IIRIRA repealed the statutory bar to judicial review of deportation orders when the alien had departed the country and codified and enacted procedures governing the filing of motions to reopen. See William v. Gonzales, 499 F.3d 329, 330 (4th Cir.2007). Thus, the current statute governing motions to reopen and reconsider provides that [t]he alien may file one motion to reconsider a decision that the alien is removable from the United States, 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(6)(A), and that such a motion must be filed within 30 days of the date of entry of a final administrative order of removal. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(6)(B). Furthermore, [a]n alien may file one motion to reopen proceedings under this section, 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(A), which motion must, in general, be filed within 90 days of the date of entry of a final administrative order of removal. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(I). The statute also details the required content of motions to reopen or reconsider, as well as exceptions from both the numerical limit of one motion to reopen and the time period for filing such a motion. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(A)-(C). The statute does not, however, contain any explicit post-departure bar to review, which, as indicated above, had previously existed in former 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(c). On March 6, 1997, the Attorney General promulgated regulations implementing the IIRIRA. The regulations retained the post-departure bar for motions to reopen before an IJ and the BIA: A motion to reopen or . . . reconsider shall not be made by or on behalf of a person who is the subject of exclusion, deportation, or removal proceedings, subsequent to his or her departure from the United States. Any departure from the United States, including the deportation or removal of a person who is the subject of exclusion, deportation, or removal proceedings, occurring after the filing of a motion to reopen . . . or reconsider, shall constitute a withdrawal of such motion. (currently 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(d)). Virtually identical language bars post-departure review before the IJ. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(1). Thus, the regulations continue to contain a post-departure bar to motions to reopen or reconsider before both the IJ and the BIA. Indeed, the Attorney General specifically discussed the continuing validity of the post-departure bar in the notice and comment process for the regulations implementing the IIRIRA: No provision of the new section 242 of the [INA] supports reversing the long established rule that a motion to reopen or reconsider cannot be made in immigration proceedings by or on behalf of a person after that person's departure from the United States. . . . The Department [of Justice] believes that the burdens associated with the adjudication of motions to reopen and reconsider on behalf of deported or departed aliens would greatly outweigh any advantages this system might render. Inspection and Expedited Removal of Aliens; Conduct of Removal Proceedings; Asylum Procedures, 62 Fed.Reg. 10,312, 10,321 (March 6, 1997).