Opinion ID: 202065
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Appropriateness of Exclusion Proceedings

Text: 58 The Estradas base their argument on former INA § 205, which, before the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), Pub.L. No. 104-208, Div. C, 110 Stat. 3009, 3009-546 (1996), provided that revocation of the approval of any visa petition will not have effect unless there is notice prior to the petition beneficiary's commencement of travel to the United States. See 8 U.S.C. § 1155 (1994). Their argument is that the fact that withdrawal of the visa petition occurred after their journey had commenced (and indeed, not until well after they had been paroled into the United States) means that the withdrawal was not valid and did not result in revocation of the approval of their visa petition, and that they should have been put into deportation proceedings. 59 The Estradas' conclusion is contrary to the BIA's reasonable interpretation of the statutory text. 10 The last sentence of § 1155 then provided that [i]f notice of revocation is not so given, and the beneficiary applies for admission to the United States, his admissibility shall be determined in the manner provided for by sections 1225 and 1226 of this title. Id. The pre-IIRIRA versions of §§ 1225 and 1226 dealt with exclusion, not deportation, procedures. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1225, 1226 (1994). It was reasonable for the BIA to conclude that the only consequence of failure to notify before travel was that the right to admission would be adjudicated in exclusion proceedings. 60 Furthermore, INA § 221(h) provided at the time that [n]othing in this chapter shall be construed to entitle any alien, to whom a visa or other documentation has been issued, to enter the United States, if, upon arrival . . . he is found to be inadmissible. 8 U.S.C. § 1201(h) (1994). The IJ found that this is what happened here, and quoted this exact language. The BIA agreed with the IJ. We see no reason for overturning the BIA's decision that exclusion proceedings were proper. 61