 NEWS FROM THE COURTS
Rojas-Reyes v. INS, Second Circuit
In this case, the court found that the petitioner did not meet the continuous physical presence requirement necessary for eligibility for suspension of deportation.
Lucina Rojas-Reyes entered the US without authorization in 1987. In 1993, the INS located her and began deportation proceedings. She applied for suspension of deportation, which was denied in March 1996 on the basis that neither she nor a US citizen family member would face extreme hardship as a result of her deportation. She appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals which found that she was no longer eligible for suspension because of a new law that made a person’s period of continuous physical presence in the US was terminated when the INS begins deportation proceedings, commonly known as the “stop-time rule.” Rojas filed a motion to reopen, based on the vacatur of the case in which the Board made its ruling on the new law. While the motion to reopen was pending, the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act was passed, in which Congress made clear that the “stop-time” rule was to be applied to all cases, regardless of when the deportation proceedings were initiated. On this basis, the Board denied the motion to reopen. Rojas appealed to the Second Circuit.
To be eligible for suspension of deportation, a person must have been in the US for a minimum of seven years at the time deportation proceedings begin. Rojas argued that applying this rule to her case, which was initiated three years before the rule went into effect, violated her due process rights. Because Congress has what is often referred to as plenary power over immigration, courts are extremely deferential and uphold the laws as long as they are facially legitimate. The court found that the stop-time rule is rationally related to the purpose of preventing delays in deportation proceedings during which time a person could become eligible for suspension. Therefore, it affirmed the ruling of the Immigration Judge and the Board of Immigration appeals denying Rojas suspension of deportation.
The opinion is available online at http://www.ilw.com/lawyers/immigdaily/cases/2001,0111-Rojas.shtm
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