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News From The Courts
In Re Chambers, BIA Decision, December 22, 2004.
The Respondent was convicted of an aggravated felony and
was ordered removed under section 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately remove
the respondent from the United States, and the Respondent's conviction, which
was the sole basis of his removability, was vacated. The Respondent sought to
reopen the removal order, arguing that he no longer had a conviction to support
the sole charge of removability. The Respondent provided in support of his
motion court documents showing that the conviction was vacated on the basis of
"a violation of the Petitioner's constitutional due process rights during
the juvenile waiver hearing." The Board of Immigration Appeals cited Matter
of Rodriguez-Ruiz, 22 I&N Dec. 1378 (BIA 2000), stating that a
distinction is made concerning how a criminal conviction is vacated, and that
distinction controls whether or not a vacated conviction is considered for
immigration purposes. Convictions that are vacated based upon a procedural or
substantive defect in the underlying proceedings are eliminated for immigration
purposes, while those vacated because of post-conviction events, such as
rehabilitative goals or equitable relief, are not.
The Respondent's vacated conviction order stated that it
was based on a violation of his due process rights, and as such, was of the
distinction so that it eliminated the conviction from consideration for
immigration purposes. The Board
held that the motion would be granted since the Respondent was no longer
convicted of an aggravated felony, and was therefore no longer removable under
section 237(a)(2)(A)(iii).
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