Jian Gang Chu v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

We are called upon to decide once again whether a deportation order of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) rendered final by the INS Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) can be rendered nonfinal by a subsequently filed motion for reconsideration. Because the petition for judicial review in this case was filed before the deportation order became final, we lack jurisdiction and therefore the petition must be dismissed.

I

In 1983, Jian Gang Chu (“Chu”) entered the United States as a member of a Chinese musical troupe. While passing through customs, he put a note on the back of his watch signaling to United States Customs officials that he wished political asylum. The INS took him into custody the next day.

The INS later issued an order to show cause why Chu should not be deportable as an immigrant alien not in possession of a valid immigrant visa. Chu admitted the facts alleged in that order and conceded his deportability at his deportation hearing in December of 1983. He then filed an asylum application, which the immigration judge treated as a request for both asylum and withholding of deportation. Chu’s asylum application was forwarded to the State Department’s…