Opinion ID: 791870
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Disposition of the Beharry Issue

Text: 42 In its most doctrinally sound form, Beharry can be read as applying the Charming Betsy principle that, where legislation is ambiguous, it should be interpreted to conform to international law. Indeed, we recently recognized the Charming Betsy principle in United States v. Yousef, 327 F.3d 56 (2d Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 933, 124 S.Ct. 353, 157 L.Ed.2d 241 (2003), where we stated: While it is permissible for United States law to conflict with customary international law, where legislation is susceptible to multiple interpretations, the interpretation that does not conflict with `the law of nations' is preferred. Id. at 92 (citing Charming Betsy, 6 U.S. (2 Cranch) at 118). As we explained in Yousef, however, the  Charming Betsy canon comes into play only where Congress's intent is ambiguous. Id. If a statute makes plain Congress's intent . . . then Article III courts, which can overrule Congressional enactments only when such enactments conflict with the Constitution, must enforce the intent of Congress irrespective of whether the statute conforms to customary international law. Id. at 93 (citation omitted); see also Comm. of U.S. Citizens Living in Nicaragua v. Reagan, 859 F.2d 929, 938-39 (D.C.Cir.1988) (explaining that statutes supercede inconsistent customary international law); United States v. Pinto-Mejia, 720 F.2d 248, 259 (2d Cir.1984) ([I]n enacting statutes, Congress is not bound by international law. . . . As long as Congress has expressly indicated its intent to reach [certain conduct], a United States court would be bound to follow the Congressional direction unless this would violate the [Constitution]. (internal quotations omitted)). 43 As discussed above, Congress's intent in this case is clear: Section 348 of IIRIRA (which restricts section 212(h) relief for aggravated felons) and section 321 of IIRIRA (which expands the definition of aggravated felony) apply to criminal acts and convictions occurring prior to IIRIRA's enactment. Thus, in this case, Congress's intent is controlling, even if we assume the existence of the customary international law on which Beharry relies and assume that the application of IIRIRA would be in conflict with those customary norms. Similarly, even if the ICCPR had created treaty obligations that, as Beharry claims, would be violated by applying IIRIRA to aliens such as Beharry or Guaylupo-Moya, clear congressional action supercedes prior treaty obligations to the extent they are inconsistent. See Empresa Cubana Del Tabaco v. Culbro Corp., 399 F.3d 462, 481 (2d Cir.2005) (`[L]egislative acts trump treaty-made international law' when those acts are passed subsequent to ratification of the treaty and clearly contradict treaty obligations. (quoting Yousef, 327 F.3d at 110)); Bradvica v. INS, 128 F.3d 1009, 1014 n. 5 (7th Cir.1997) ([C]ustomary international law is not applicable in domestic courts where there is a controlling legislative act . . . . And a prior treaty does not trump the provisions of a subsequent legislative act.); Comm. of U.S. Citizens Living in Nicaragua, 859 F.2d at 936 ([T]reaties and statutes enjoy equal status and therefore . . . inconsistencies between the two must be resolved in favor of the lex posterior. ). Even if IIRIRA's restriction on section 212(h) relief were inconsistent with the ICCPR, IIRIRA's enactment in 1996 post-dates the ICCPR, and thus IIRIRA would be controlling. 13 44 Because Congress's intent in this case is clear and controlling, we need not decide whether and/or how, in other contexts, international law may be used to construe ambiguous statutes; nor do we need to decide whether an application of IIRIRA in this context actually violates international law, as argued in Beharry. For the purposes of this decision, we need only observe that Beharry was incorrect in the following respects. First, to the extent that Beharry purports to interpret an ambiguous statute to avoid a conflict with international law, it failed to determine whether the relevant provisions of IIRIRA were indeed ambiguous as to their application to prior conduct. Because the relevant provisions are unambiguous, Beharry improperly sought to apply the Charming Betsy canon. Second, to the extent that Beharry purports to declare that international law should override the plain language and effect of the relevant statutes, that reasoning was in error, clear congressional action trumps customary international law and previously enacted treaties. 45 Moreover, to the extent that Guaylupo-Moya argues that United States treaty obligations independently entitle him to a compassionate hearing — as opposed to influencing our construction of section 212(h) — that argument is without merit. (Indeed, not even Beharry stands for such a proposition.) The only ratified treaty cited in Beharry and by Guaylupo-Moya, the ICCPR, came with attached RUDs declaring that the ICCPR is not self-executing. This declaration means that the provisions of the ICCPR do not create a private right of action or separate form of relief enforceable in United States courts. See Flores v. S. Peru Copper Corp., 343 F.3d 140, 163 n. 35 (2d Cir.2003) (explaining that the ICCPR does not create a private right of action because the Senate declared that it is not self-executing); Igartua De La Rosa v. United States, 32 F.3d 8, 10 n. 1 (1st Cir.1994) (per curiam) (same), cert. denied, 514 U.S. 1049, 115 S.Ct. 1426, 131 L.Ed.2d 308 (1995).