Alfredo Bagues-Valles and Micaela Villa De Bagues v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Alfredo Bagues-Valles and Micaela Villa de Bagues (the Bagueses), husband and wife, seek review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming an immigration judge’s denial of their applications for suspension of deportation. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a), and we deny the petition.

I

The Bagueses are natives and citizens of Mexico. The husband first entered the United States in March 1971; his wife first entered in July 1972. Both entries were illegal and both returned to Mexico in June 1975 after being found deportable and allowed to depart voluntarily. They illegally re-entered the United States in July 1975.

In August 1977, the Bagueses each received a “Silva notice” from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). In Silva v. Levi, No. 76-C-4268 (N.D.Ill. Mar. 22, 1977), the INS was temporarily enjoined and subsequently permanently enjoined from deporting certain Western Hemisphere aliens because of an erroneous allocation of visas. The “Silva notice” informed the Bagueses, in both English and Spanish, that, in compliance with a court order from the Northern District of Illinois, the INS would be “taking no action on [your] case…