Opinion ID: 797989
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Petitioner Aundre Singh

Text: 12 Aundre Singh entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1979. Seven years later he entered a guilty plea in New York state court to murder in the second degree. See N.Y. PENAL LAW § 125.25. The court sentenced him to an indeterminate term of imprisonment of no less than 20 years. 13 The INS served Singh with a notice to appear in immigration court in November 1997. The notice charged his deportability as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony after admission, see 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), because he had a murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor conviction, id. § 1101(a)(43)(A). The IJ held Singh ineligible for a § 212(c) waiver under the supposition that Congress retroactively repealed § 212(c). Singh appealed to the BIA, arguing his murder conviction predated the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (ADAA), Pub.L. No. 100-690, 102 Stat. 4181 (1988), and thus could not form the basis of his deportation. 3 The BIA was not persuaded. 14 Singh filed a motion to reopen with the BIA in September 2003, arguing for a § 212(c) waiver under St. Cyr. The BIA denied his motion, finding it time-barred and choosing not to reopen his petition sua sponte. Singh filed another motion for reconsideration, which the BIA denied because Singh served more than five years in prison. Singh again filed a motion to reopen, which was again rejected by the BIA, this time for exceeding the time and numerical limitations on motions to reopen, see 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2). Undeterred, he filed another motion to reopen in January 2005, arguing that the DHS regulations promulgated after St. Cyr rendered him eligible for a § 212(c) waiver. See 8 C.F.R. § 1212.3(f). In April 2005, the BIA denied his motion, citing Blake, 23 I. & N. Dec. 722. Singh filed one more motion to reconsider with the BIA, which was denied. 15 In May 2005, Singh filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which was transferred to this Court. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(5). He also filed a petition for review of the BIA's April 2005 decision with this Court. The two were consolidated for review in this Court. 16