United States v. Oscar Villa-Fabela

OVERVIEW:

Mr. Oscar Villa-Fabela appeals from his conviction for the crime of Re-Entry of Deported Alien in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . He collaterally attacks the validity of the underlying deportation proceeding on the grounds that he was not advised of the availability of free legal services programs located in the district where his application was heard, in violation of 8 C.F.R. § 242.16 (a) and assertedly in violation of his statutory and procedural due process rights to counsel; he was not told of his right to contact the Mexican Consulate after he was taken into administrative detention, nor did the INS contact the Mexican Consulate on Mr. Villa-Fabela’s behalf, in violation of 8 C.F.R. § 242.2 (f); and the immigration judge assertedly failed adequately to question Mr. Villa-Fabela regarding his waiver of appeal to ensure that it was knowing and intelligent. Because we find that the procedural defects neither rendered the deportation proceeding fundamentally unfair nor prejudiced the defendant, we affirm the conviction and reject Mr. Villa-Fabela’s collateral attack.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On January 30, 1986, Mr. Villa-Fabela was given a two-year sentence…