United States v. Juan Carlos Herrera-Blanco

232 F.3d 715, 2000 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9128, 2000 Daily Journal DAR 12098, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 28646, 2000 WL 1693240
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedNovember 14, 2000
Docket98-30342
StatusPublished
Cited by330 cases

This text of 232 F.3d 715 (United States v. Juan Carlos Herrera-Blanco) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Juan Carlos Herrera-Blanco, 232 F.3d 715, 2000 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9128, 2000 Daily Journal DAR 12098, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 28646, 2000 WL 1693240 (9th Cir. 2000).

Opinion

ALARCON, Circuit Judge:

Juan Carlos Herrera-Blanco (“Herrera-Bianco”) appeals from the judgment of conviction of the crime of unlawful reentry into the United States by a previously deported alien without the express consent of the Attorney General of the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and § 1326(b)(2). He seeks reversal of his conviction on two discrete grounds:

One: The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”) is unconstitutional because it denies the right to a direct appeal from a deportation order to an alien if he has previously suffered a conviction for an aggravated felony.

Two: The immigration judge deprived him of his right to due process by inducing him to give up his right to file an appeal from the deportation order by erroneously informing him that he was ineligible for relief from deportation. Herrera-Bianco asserts that the provisions of AEDPA denying relief from deportation do not apply to an alien whose conviction of an aggravated felony occurred prior to the effective date of AEDPA. 1

*717 We affirm because we conclude that there is no merit to these contentions.

I

Herrera-Blanco, a citizen of Mexico, entered the United States on October 27, 1988. He was granted lawful permanent resident status on December 1, 1990. On August 31, 1994, he was charged in an Alaska state court with one count of first degree burglary and one count of second degree sexual assault. He was convicted following a trial by jury on both counts. Judgment was entered on January 4, 1996.

Herrera-Bianco filed an appeal from the Alaska state court’s judgment. He was released on bail pending the determination of his appeal. The judgment was affirmed on August 4, 1997. Herrera-Bianco began serving his state prison sentence on September 24,1997.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) served Herrera-Bianco with a notice of hearing and an order to show cause dated April 8, 1998 while he was still incarcerated. He was released from prison on May 10, 1998. Shortly thereafter he appeared without counsel before an immigration judge (“IJ”). In response to the IJ’s questions, Herrera-Bianco stated that he should be removed from the United States because of his conviction of two aggravated felonies.

The IJ found that Herrera-Bianco was deportable from the United States. The IJ then informed Herrera-Bianco that “due to the nature of your conviction you are not eligible for any relief.” Herrera-Bianco waived his right to appeal from the deportation order. He was deported on May 13,1998.

Herrera-Bianco was arrested in Alaska on June 3, 1998. On June 16, 1998, he was indicted for unlawful reentry of an alien previously deported following conviction of a felony in violation of 8 U.S.C. §§ 1326(a), (b)(2). On July 29, 1998, Herrera-Bianco moved to dismiss the indictment. In his motion, he collaterally attacked the validity of the deportation order. He argued that AEDPA is unconstitutional because it precludes judicial review of deportation orders. He also asserted that AEDPA cannot be applied retroactively to deny discretionary relief to an alien who was eligible for such relief when the prior felony was committed before AEDPA’s effective date. He further maintained that the IJ failed to inform him that he was eligible for discretionary relief from deportation. The district court denied the motion to dismiss the indictment.

Herrera-Bianco pled guilty as charged in the indictment but reserved the right to appeal from the denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment. On November 13, 1998, the district court entered its judgment sentencing Herrera-Bianco to serve 41 months in prison and two years of supervised release for violating §§ 1326(a), (b)(2). We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

II

Herrera-Bianco initially challenges the order of deportation “[bjecause meaningful judicial review [of a deportation order] was absolutely foreclosed by the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 in violation of the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause.” Appellant’s Opening Brief at 17. We review de novo a district court’s order denying a collateral attack on a deportation proceeding. See United States v. Proa-Tovar, 975 F.2d 592, 594 (9th Cir.1992) (en banc).

*718 In 1996, Congress enacted the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (“IIRIRA”). It provides that federal courts lack subject matter jurisdiction to review a final order of removal predicated upon the conviction of an aggravated felony. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C). Section 1252(a)(2)(C) reads in pertinent part as follows: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no court shall have jurisdiction to review any final order of removal against an alien who is removable by reason of having committed a criminal offense, covered in ... [§ ]1227(a)(2)(A)(iii)....” Section 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) provides that “[a]ny alien who is convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after admission is deportable.”

The Supreme Court instructed in United States v. Mendoza-Lopez, 481 U.S. 828, 107 S.Ct. 2148, 95 L.Ed.2d 772 (1987), that an alien must be afforded the opportunity to attack collaterally a deportation order that constituted an element of a criminal offense. See id. at 837-39, 107 S.Ct. 2148. The Court explained this requirement in the following words:

Our cases establish that where a determination made in an administrative proceeding is to play a critical role in the subsequent imposition of a criminal sanction, there must be some meaningful review of the administrative proceeding. This principle means at the very least that where the defects in an administrative proceeding foreclose judicial review of that proceeding, an alternative means of obtaining judicial review must be made available before the administrative order may be used to establish conclusively an element of a criminal offense. The result of those proceedings may subsequently be used to convert the misdemeanor of unlawful entry into the felony of unlawful entry after a deportation. Depriving an alien of the right to have the disposition in a deportation hearing reviewed in a judicial forum requires, at a minimum, that review be made available in any subsequent proceeding in which the result of the deportation proceeding is used to establish an element of a criminal offense.

Id. (citations and footnotes omitted).

Where direct judicial review of a deportation order is unavailable, “the validity of the deportation order may be collaterally attacked in the criminal proceeding.” United States v. Arrieta,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Ramon Bonilla-Galeas
655 F. App'x 554 (Ninth Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Jaime Moreno-Castaneda
653 F. App'x 497 (Ninth Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Armando Gomez-Hernandez
654 F. App'x 314 (Ninth Circuit, 2016)
United States v. Juan Eriberto
615 F. App'x 420 (Ninth Circuit, 2015)
United States v. Jesus Gonzalez
590 F. App'x 719 (Ninth Circuit, 2015)
United States v. Alejandra Ochoa-Navarrete
588 F. App'x 633 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Jose Salazar-Luna
584 F. App'x 587 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Jesus Garcia-Cobian
584 F. App'x 567 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Rogelio Melendez-Rodriguez
584 F. App'x 351 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Chavez-Valencia
582 F. App'x 765 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Hernandez
558 F. App'x 770 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Jorge Figueroa-Banuelos
553 F. App'x 693 (Ninth Circuit, 2014)
United States v. Almendarez-Amaya
469 F. App'x 630 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Mauricio Almendarez-Amaya
470 F. App'x 552 (Ninth Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Manuel Cruz-Ochoa
451 F. App'x 659 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Ivan Rodriguez-Mendoza
451 F. App'x 661 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Jose Galaviz
451 F. App'x 670 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
232 F.3d 715, 2000 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9128, 2000 Daily Journal DAR 12098, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 28646, 2000 WL 1693240, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-juan-carlos-herrera-blanco-ca9-2000.