Court Opinion

ID: 9459174
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:12:25.487238+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:02.952862
License: Public Domain

ADAMS, Circuit Judge
(concurring).
In this appeal, the Court is urged to reverse a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (hereinafter the “Board”) denying petitioner’s motion to reopen and reconsider a deportation order originally entered in 1958, upheld by this Court in 1960, and reaffirmed by the Board in 1965. Although the factual background of this controversy has previously been set forth by this Court in Bufalino v. Holland, 277 F.2d 270 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 364 U.S. 863, 81 S.Ct. 103, 5 L.Ed.2d 85 (1960), and has been supplemented by the majority here, an appreciation of the precise legal issues properly tendered in the present appeal requires a brief recapitulation.
In 1957, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (hereinafter “I.N.S.”) ordered Bufalino to show cause why he should not be deported, first, for having reentered the United States without inspection in 1956 after brief trips to Cuba and Bimini,1 2and, second, for having failed to report his address with the Attorney General as required by 8 U.S. C. § 1305.2 During his hearing before a Special Inquiry Officer, Bufalino was charged on a third ground for having been excludable at the time of his 1956 entries because of not possessing a valid visa or other entry document.3
Petitioner contested only the second of these charges, asserting that his failure to register with the Attorney General was “reasonably excusable and was not willful.” The Special Inquiry Officer found Bufalino deportable on all three charges, and the Board affirmed.
Petitioner then sought review of the order of deportation. The district court granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the District Director of I.N. S. and dismissed the petition for review. On appeal, this Court affirmed after an exhaustive examination of the record. Bufalino v. Holland, supra. Among other things, the Court rejected Bufalino’s *737contention that “his failure to provide the Attorney General with his address and other information as required by 8 U.S.C. § 1305 was reasonably excusable and was not willful. . . . ”
After the Supreme Court denied cer-tiorari in this case, 364 U.S. 863, 81 S. Ct. 103 (1960), Bufalino spent several years attacking his deportation order on other grounds in other forums. See Attorney General v. Bufalino, 125 U.S. App.D.C. 273, 371 F.2d 738 (1966) ; Bu-falino v. Kennedy, 116 U.S.App.D.C. 266, 322 F.2d 1016 (1963). The details of the various protracted proceedings taking place during those years are not relevant to the issues properly raised in the present appeal, and therefore need not be recounted here.
On December 28, 1966, however, Bu-falino filed with the Board a motion to reopen, reconsider, and terminate the deportation proceedings, arguing that (1) several decisions rendered by the Supreme Court after the deportation order entered in 1958 and affirmed by this Court in 1960 required a different result in his case; and (2) a hearing should be held “to ascertain the extent to which evidence herein and fruits thereof were obtained by illegal wiretapping and by unauthorized interception” of his telephone and those of his attorneys.
After the Board denied the motion on June 5, 1967, Bufalino filed the present petition for review. This Court, by order dated February 20, 1969, retained jurisdiction but remanded the cause for supplemental administrative proceedings limited to the issue whether any evidence relied upon in the deportation proceeding resulted from illegal wiretapping. After an evidentiary hearing, the Special Inquiry Officer concluded that no evidence relied upon in the deportation proceeding resulted from conversations overheard through electronic surveillance. The Board affirmed, and the case, in this posture, is again before this Court.
Before deciding the legal questions presented, it is essential to determine what issues are properly before us. Jurisdiction is here limited by 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a)(l): “a petition for review may be filed not later than six months from the date of the final deportation order. . . .” Although we may review judgments on motions to reopen, Giova v. Rosenberg, 379 U.S. 18, 85 S. Ct. 156, 13 L.Ed.2d 90 (1964), the right to appeal from an order of deportation is extinguished when the six-month period expires and is not revived by proceedings on a motion to reopen. See Rosa v. I.N.S., 440 F.2d 100 (1st Cir. 1971); Gena v. I.N.S., 424 F.2d 227 (5th Cir. 1970); Lopez v. I.N.S., 356 F.2d 986 (3d Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 839, 87 S.Ct. 88, 17 L.Ed.2d 73 (1966).
Under these circumstances, we are without power to review again the order of deportation entered in 1958, upheld by this Court in 1960, and reaffirmed by the Board in 1965, since Bufalino did not file the present petition until July 27, 1967, beyond the six-month period. Because the petition can be read, however, as seeking reexamination of the Board’s June 5, 1967 denial of Bufalino’s motion to reopen and reconsider, it may be so construed. Lopez v. I.N.S., 356 F.2d 986 (3d Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 839, 87 S.Ct. 88,17 L.Ed.2d 73 (1966).
Thus, judicial review is here limited to the Board’s order of June 5, 1967, denying the motion to reopen, and the supplemental order of October 7, 1971, affirming the wiretap decision of Special Inquiry Officer. We must now decide whether the Board abused its discretion in denying Bufalino’s motion to reopen. See, e. g., Tupacyupanqui-Marin v. I.N.S., 447 F.2d 603 (7th Cir. 1971); Hun Chak Sun v. I.N.S., 415 F.2d 791 (9th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 908, 90 S.Ct. 905, 25 L.Ed.2d 89 (1970); Lopez v. I.N.S., 356 F.2d 986 (3d Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 839, 87 S.Ct. 88, 17 L.Ed.Zd 73 (1966); United States ex rel. Czapkowski v. Holland, 220 F.2d 436 (3d Cir.) (per cu-*738riam), cert. denied, 350 U.S. 826, 76 S. Ct. 54,100 L.Ed. 737 (1955).
Petitioner premised his motion to reopen the deportation proceedings upon three Supreme Court decisions handed down subsequent to the original deportation proceedings: Rosenberg v. Fleuti, 374 U.S. 449, 83 S.Ct. 1804, 10 L.Ed.2d 1000 (1963); I.N.S. v. Errico, 385 U.S. 214, 87 S.Ct. 473, 17 L.Ed.2d 318 (1966); and Woodby v. I.N.S., 385 U.S. 276, 87 S.Ct. 483, 17 L.Ed.2d 362 (1966). Petitioner contended, before the Board and in briefs and oral argument before this Court, that these three decisions changed the legal bases supporting his deportation order and that, in view of this alteration in the law, a refusal by the Board to reopen and reconsider constitutes an abuse of discretion.
Before disposing of petitioner’s claim that Woodby, Fleuti, and Errico require the Board’s reopening of his deportation proceeding, it should be noted that it is unnecessary to decide at this time whether generally, and if so to what extent, a subsequent change in case law mandates granting a motion to reopen and reconsider. Although, in the wise employment of judicial power, courts should be wary of affording repeated review of previously decided matters, the effect of later changes in decisional law upon prior deportation orders need not now be determined, since the Board in rendering its decision in this case carefully examined the applicability of these Supreme Court cases and rejected Bufal-ino’s contentions on the merits. Under these circumstances, we need decide at this point only whether, in so denying Bufalino’s petition, the Board abused its discretion.
Petitioner has sought reopening of his deportation proceedings in part for a reevaluation of the charge that he failed to report his address in January of 1956 and January of 1957 in violation of § 1251(a)(5). Under this section, authorization is given to deport an alien who has failed to comply with the provisions of § 1305, requiring annual notification of address, unless he satisfies the Attorney General that such failure was “reasonably excusable or was not willful.” See, e. g., Klissas v. I.N.S., 124 U.S. App.D.C. 75, 361 F.2d 529 (1966); Patsis v. I.N.S., 337 F.2d 733 (8th Cir. 1964), cert. denied, 380 U.S. 952, 85 S. Ct. 1085, 13 L.Ed.2d 970 (1965); Gallegos-Covarrubias v. Del Guercio, 251 F.2d 519 (9th Cir. 1959); United States ex rel. Czapkowski, 220 F.2d 436 (3d Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, 350 U.S. 826, 76 S.Ct. 54, 100 L.Ed. 737 (1955). The Board concluded in 1958 that the charge regarding the failure to report his address was sustained by the evidence of record. This Court in 1960, after carefully reviewing the record, upheld the Board’s finding, and based upon our present, independent reexamination of the evidence, we conclude again that there is no basis for disturbing it.
 Bufalino argues, however, that his deportability under § 1251(a)(5) must now be reconsidered in light of Woodby, which held that evidence as to deportability must be “clear, unequivocal, and convincing.” 385 U.S. at 286, 87 S.Ct. 483. Although the standard prevailing at the time of the original deportation order, which was before Wood-by, required only that there be “reasonable, substantial, and probative” evidence to support a finding of deportability, in this case the Woodby standard was nonetheless satisfied. Under § 1251-(a) (5), I.N.S. carries the burden of proving that notification of address, as required by § 1305, has not been made. When that fact was stipulated to at the deportation hearing, the burden of persuasion shifted to Bufalino to establish that his failure to file was “reasonably excusable or was not willful.” Assuming, arguendo, that the Woodby standard of proof applies in these circumstances, cf. Small v. I.N.S., 438 F.2d 1125, 1128 (2d Cir. 1971); Soares v. I.N.S., 449 F.2d 621 (5th Cir. 1971), the Special Inquiry Officer’s finding, that Bufalino’s testimony as to his good faith in not reporting his address was deliberately untruthful, supports the Board’s view, when denying the motion to re*739open, that the Woodby standard had, indeed, been fulfilled.
 Moreover, petitioner’s further contention, that the term “willful” in § 1251(a)(5) should be interpreted to require evil motive or bad purpose, would appear to be without merit. In addition to the fact that the point was not raised below, cf. Unemployment Compensation Comm’n. v. Aragon, 329 U.S. 143, 155, 67 S.Ct. 245, 91 L.Ed. 136 (1946), the administrative authorities have long interpreted “willful” to mean “intentional.” Matter of B, 5 I&N Dec. 692, 693 (B.I.A.). Despite the serious consequences of deportation, deportation statutes are not penal in nature. See Wood-by v. I.N.S., 385 U.S. 276, 285, 87 S.Ct. 483, 17 L.Ed.2d 362 (1966); Ah Chiu Pang v. I.N.S., 368 F.2d 637, 639 (3d Cir. 1966), cert. denied, 386 U.S. 1037, 87 S.Ct. 1490, 18 L.Ed.2d 601 (1967). And the juxtaposition of the terms “reasonably excusable” and “not willful” in § 1251(a)(5) would appear to support the position that “willful” is here to be construed in its ordinary sense.
Because a failure to comply with § 1305, requiring aliens to report their addresses, is an independent, deportable offense under § 1251(a)(5), see Klissas v. I.N.S., 124 U.S.App.D.C. 75, 361 F.2d 529 (1966); Patsis v. I.N.S., 337 F.2d 733 (8th Cir. 1964), cert. denied 380 U. S. 952, 85 S.Ct. 1085, 13 L.Ed.2d 970 (1965); Gallogos-Covarrubias v. Del Guercio, 251 F.2d 519 (9th Cir. 1959); United States ex rel. Czapkowski v. Holland, 220 F.2d 436 (3d Cir. 1955) (per curiam), it is not necessary to discuss the merits of the other assaults predicated on Errieo and Fleuti, upon the Board’s refusal to reopen.4 Since the independently deportable offense of failure to comply with § 1305 was properly proved and deportability on that ground has not in the circumstances present here been undercut by the three Supreme Court cases relied upon by Bufali-no, the Board did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to reopen.
Although Bufalino seeks review by this Court of the prejudgment issue raised by him elsewhere, see Attorney General v. Bufalino, 125 U.S.App.D.C. 273, 371 F.2d 738 (1966); Bufalino v. Kennedy, 116 U.S.App.D.C. 266, 322 F. 2d 1016 (1963), because that issue was neither placed before nor considered by the Board during the proceedings on the motion to reopen, it is not properly before us.
Petitioner’s argument that his deportation would constitute cruel and unusual punishment is also without merit.
Finally, I agree with Judge Van Dusen’s concurring opinion that Bufalino has failed to support his contentions concerning electronic surveillance. In this regard, it is appropriate to stress again, that Bufalino’s failure to report his address was stipulated to and that, because of his deliberately untruthful testimony, he has not established that such failure was “reasonably excusable or was not willful.” Under these circumstances, petitioner’s inability to support his wiretap allegations is fatal.
For the above reasons, I would affirm the Board’s orders of June 5, 1967 and October 7, 1971.

. See 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a) (2).

. See id. § 1251(a)(5).

. See id. § 1251(a)(1).

. Rosenberg v. Fleuti, 374 U.S. 449, 83 S.Ct. 1804, 10 L.Ed.2d 1000 (1963), would be relevant to an examination of the charge that Bufalino entered the United States without a visa and without inspection after trips to Bimini and Cuba in violation of § 1251(a) (2). I.N.S. v. Errico, 385 U.S. 214, 87 S.Ct. 473, 17 L.Ed.2d 318 (1966), sheds new light upon § 1251(f) which forgives illegal entries for aliens with close family ties where they are otherwise admissible at the time of entry- Because Bufalino is properly deportable for having failed to file address reports, it is unnecessary to determine whether, in view of Fleuti and Errieo, the Board abused its discretion in refusing to reopen the earlier deportation proceedings in which it was held that petitioner was also deportable on other grounds, i. e., for having entered the United States in violation of § 1251(a) (2).