Opinion ID: 758325
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Saul Navas

Text: 9 Saul Navas has been a LPR of the United States since he arrived here from Panama in 1987, when he was twelve years old. His entire immediate family lives in this country, either as LPRs or as citizens. He has no close relatives in Panama. On May 2, 1995, Navas was convicted in New York state court as the result of pleading guilty to two separate criminal charges. In the first case, which involved driving a stolen automobile, he pled guilty to possession of stolen property in the third degree. In the second case, which involved a purse-snatching incident, he pled guilty to robbery in the third degree. Navas received concurrent sentences of one-and-a-half-to-four years, but satisfied his sentences by spending eight months in New York's Shock Incarceration Program. While Navas was incarcerated, the INS began deportation proceedings against him. He first appeared before an IJ on October 11, 1995, but his case was continued until November 8, 1995, when, acting pro se, Navas admitted the allegations and was found deportable. The IJ encouraged Navas to apply for a § 212(c) waiver, for which he was then eligible, and Navas did so on December 8, 1995. 10 On May 9, 1996, a hearing was held on Navas' application for a § 212(c) waiver. The IJ determined that Navas' residence in the United States since a young age, his substantial family ties to this country, and his history of steady employment weighed strongly in favor of allowing him to remain in this country. Accordingly, the IJ granted him a § 212(c) waiver. The BIA reversed, however, holding that, under the Attorney General's intervening opinion in Soriano II, AEDPA § 440(d) applied retroactively to render Navas statutorily ineligible for § 212(c) relief. 4 11 Navas then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Jack B. Weinstein, Judge ). That court concluded that it had jurisdiction to review Navas' claims under the general habeas statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2241. See Mojica v. Reno, 970 F.Supp. 130 (E.D.N.Y.1997). The court further held, as a matter of statutory construction, that AEDPA § 440(d) should not apply retroactively to Navas' case. See id. at 165. Accordingly, the court granted Navas' habeas petition and ordered the INS to adjudicate Navas' application for § 212(c) relief under pre-AEDPA standards. See id. at 182. The INS appealed to this Court. See Navas v. Reno, Docket No. 97-2600. 12 In addition to filing his habeas petition in the district court, Navas also filed a petition for direct review of the BIA's March 14, 1997, decision with this Court on April 11, 1997. See Navas v. Reno, Docket No. 97-4070. These cases have been consolidated on appeal and are both before us today.