Opinion ID: 3011428
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: In several opinions handed down in the last two years, this court has had occasion to consider the effect of various provisions of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996), and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), Pub. L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009-546 (1996), on the jurisdiction of the federal courts over issues raised by aliens with respect to deportation proceedings commenced by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Judicial review of cases in which the INS commenced deportation proceedings against the alien prior to April 1, 1997 is governed by the transitional rules of IIRIRA, whereas judicial review of those commenced thereafter are governed by the permanent judicial review amendments of IIRIRA (permanent rules). The three cases before us today arise under the permanent rules, which we have not previously interpreted. In particular, they require us to decide whether this court has jurisdiction over a petition for review filed by an alien who has been ordered deported because s/he has been convicted of one or more crimes specified in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (hereafter referred to as an alien with a criminal conviction).1 As a necessary component of that decision we must also decide whether _________________________________________________________________ 1. We use the term alien with a criminal conviction to refer to an alien who has been convicted of one or more crimes listed in INA S 242(a)(2)(C), AEDPA S 440(a), or transitional rule IIRIRA S 309(c)(4)(G). The covered crimes include aggravated felonies, controlled substance convictions, certain firearm offenses, miscellaneous national security or defense crimes, or two convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude. 4 the permanent judicial review amendments of IIRIRA divest the federal courts of their habeas corpus jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. S 2241. In our earlier decisions, we held that AEDPA and the transitional rules of IIRIRA deprived us of jurisdiction over a petition for review from a final order of removal entered against an alien convicted of certain crimes listed in the statutes, see Catney v. INS, 178 F.3d 190 (3d Cir. 1999); Morel v. INS, 144 F.3d 248 (3d Cir. 1998), but that the district courts retain jurisdiction under the general statutory grant of habeas corpus jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. S 2241, to review statutory and constitutional challenges to the deportation order, see Sandoval v. Reno, 166 F.3d 225 (3d Cir. 1999); DeSousa v. Reno, 190 F.3d 175 (3d Cir. 1999). In the cases currently before us, three permanent legal residents, Gioacchino Cinquemani, Carmelo Jose Rodriguez, and Xu Cheng Liang (collectively petitioners), have filed petitions for review challenging thefinal orders of removal entered against them by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Rodriguez has also filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the district court of New Jersey, Rodriguez v. Reno, Civ. No. 99-4300, which is pending. The INS filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction in each case before us. We directed that petitioners' cases be expedited and consolidated.2 The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed an amicus brief on the jurisdictional issues, as did a group of twenty-six law professors. The Citizens and Immigrants for Equal Justice filed an amicus brief on the merits of petitioners' claims. We focus on the jurisdictional issue, as we cannot consider the merits of the petitioners' claims until that is resolved. _________________________________________________________________ 2. A fourth case also consolidated with them arose under the transitional rules and was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Vergara-Hernandez v. INS, No. 98-3175 (3d Cir. Dec. 27, 1999) (unpublished memorandum opinion). 5