Arias-Ordonez

This government appeal arises in the context of an apparently routine prosecution for reentry after removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 that turned out to be anything but routine. The alien did everything he was instructed to do to effectuate his removal, after it had been ordered in absentia. He even sent his mother to report for removal in his place while he obtained proper identification. But the order instructing him to report for removal misinformed him that he had no administrative remedies and he was never told that he had a right to reopen to seek voluntary , departure. The government does not contest the district court’s ruling that the flaws in the underlying removal prejudiced the alien. The government argues, however, that the subsequent summary reinstatements of the flawed removal can support the criminal indictment fox-illegal reentry. We think not and affirm the district court’s dismissal of the indictment.

BACKGROUND

Noe Arias-Ordonez is a citizen of Mexico who has lived in this country since the age of ten and now has a United States citizen child. He was convicted in 2002 of misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and placed in removal proceedings. His…