Opinion ID: 201243
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the new reinstatement provision

Text: 2 We begin by limning the parameters of the new reinstatement provision. Among many other innovations, IIRIRA repealed the former reinstatement provision, section 242(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1252(f) (repealed 1996), and enacted a new reinstatement provision at section 241(a)(5), 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(5). 1 Section 241(a)(5) provides: 3 If the Attorney General finds that an alien has reentered the United States illegally after having been removed or having departed voluntarily, under an order of removal, the prior order of removal is reinstated from its original date and is not subject to being reopened or reviewed, the alien is not eligible and may not apply for any relief under [the INA], and the alien shall be removed under the prior order at any time after the reentry. 4 This provision took effect on April 1, 1997. It altered preexisting law in at least three salient respects. First, under the old regime only illegal reentrants who had previously been deported on certain specified grounds (e.g., conviction for an aggravated felony) were subject to having their original deportation orders reinstated. Under section 241(a)(5), however, all illegal reentrants now face the prospect of such reinstatement. See Arevalo v. Ashcroft, 344 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir.2003). Second, under the earlier system an alien had a right to a hearing, presided over by an immigration judge, before reinstatement of the prior deportation order became a fait accompli. Under the regulations implementing section 241(a)(5), however, there is no longer a right to such a hearing (or to any hearing, for that matter). See 8 C.F.R. § 241.8. Third, preexisting law allowed an illegal reentrant to attempt to fend off execution of a reinstated deportation order by petitioning for discretionary relief in the form of an adjustment of his status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Conversely, section 241(a)(5) pretermits an illegal reentrant's ability to apply for any relief under the INA. See Arevalo, 344 F.3d at 5.