Opinion ID: 169032
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The W arrant of Deportation

Text: W e agree with the government— and with Lara-Ibanez— that warrants of deportation are not testimonial. All circuits to have addressed the issue have held that admissions of warrants of deportation do not violate Crawford. United States v. Torres-Villalobos, 477 F.3d 978 (8th Cir. 2007); United States v. Garcia, 452 -5- F.3d 36, 42 (1st Cir. 2006); United States v. Valdez-M altos, 443 F.3d 910, 911 (5th Cir. 2006) (per curiam); United States v. Cantellano, 430 F.3d 1142, 1145 (11th Cir. 2005); United States v. Bahena-Cardenas, 411 F.3d 1067, 1075 (9th Cir. 2005). The key question under Crawford is whether the document sought to be introduced was prepared for the purpose of litigation, or whether it was prepared for regulatory, business, or other purposes apart from the possibility of its use as evidence in a legal proceeding. See Summers, 414 F.3d at 1302. W e believe that warrants of deportation are non-testimonial under this definition. A warrant of deportation is a public record signed by a public official attesting to the fact that the individual in question actually left the country. Its primary purpose is to enable immigration authorities to keep track of who has been deported and when. It would be useful, for example, if the deported individual later sought lawful admission to the United States. As the Eighth Circuit recently noted, “[w]arrants of deportation are produced under circumstances objectively indicating that their primary purpose is to maintain records concerning the movements of aliens and to ensure compliance with orders of deportation, not to prove facts for use in future criminal prosecutions.” Torres-Villalobos, 2007 W L 528195, at . The warrant of deportation introduced into evidence in this case was not prepared in contem plation of litigation, and its admission therefore does not violate the Sixth Amendment. -6-