Robert M. Wall v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Petitioner Robert Mansfield Wall asks us to review two decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals. In No. 81-7541, he attacks a. decision upholding an order of deportation issued on October 2, 1979. In No. 83-7262, he attacks a decision denying his motion to reopen. We uphold the Board’s conclusion that Wall is deportable, but we also hold that Wall is eligible for relief under 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (c), and remand for further consideration of his petition for such relief.

I. FACTS.

Wall, a British subject, entered the United States as a visitor in February, 1975. He married an American citizen on April 28, 1975, and became a permanent resident alien on January 20, 1976. On January 5, 1979, he pled guilty to a cocaine distribution charge under 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). Based on that conviction, an Immigration Judge found him deportable under 8 U.S.C. § 1251 (a)(ll) at deportation hearings held on October 2, 1979. Wall asked for de ferred action status under Immigration and Naturalization Service Operations Instruction 103.1(a)(l)(ii) on September 24, 1979. The Service’s district director formally denied deferred action status on February 1, 1980. Wall appealed the deportability…