An Na Peng v. Holder

The enactment of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), which repealed the waiver of deportation under Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) § 212(c), 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (c), does not affect the right of aliens to use the § 212(c) waiver, when such aliens proceeded to trial and were convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude prior to the enactment of IIRIRA. Aliens charged with and convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude prior to the enactment of IIRIRA remain eligible for § 212(c) relief, regardless of whether they pleaded guilty or proceeded to trial. Such aliens can demonstrate reasonable reliance on § 212(c) prior to ■ its repeal, because they may have acted differently had § 212 relief not been possible at such time.

However, the seven year residency requirement for a waiver of inadmissibility under INA § 212(h), which became effective on September 30, 1996, is not impermissibly retroactive when removal proceedings were commenced after that date. Further, requiring Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) (who have been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude) to acquire seven years of continuous presence in the United…