Opinion ID: 797989
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Petitioner Errol Foster

Text: 9 Errol Foster entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1981. In September 1990, he entered a guilty plea in New York state court to first degree manslaughter, see N.Y. PENAL LAW § 125.20(1), and was sentenced to a term of six to eighteen years in prison. 10 In May 2000, the INS served Foster with a notice to appear in immigration court. The notice charged him with deportation as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony after admission, see 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), because he committed a crime of violence, id. § 1101(a)(43)(F). The IJ held Foster ineligible for a § 212(c) waiver because he had served more than five years of his sentence. Foster appealed to the BIA. The BIA, relying on Buitrago-Cuesta v. INS, 7 F.3d 291 (2d Cir. 1993), affirmed the IJ's decision in March 2001. 2 On appeal, we dismissed Foster's appeal for failure to exhaust his administrative remedies. See Foster v. INS, 376 F.3d 75, 78 (2d Cir.2004). 11 While our decision in that case was pending, Foster filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He also filed a motion to reopen with the BIA under the DHS's newly promulgated regulations. See 8 C.F.R. § 1212.3. In July 2005, the BIA denied Foster's motion to reopen, finding him ineligible for a § 212(c) waiver because his ground of deportation lacked a counterpart ground of exclusion. See id. § 1212.3(f)(5). Foster's petition for habeas corpus and his petition seeking review of the BIA's denial of his motion to reopen were consolidated before this Court.