Maria De Jesus Ramirez-Zavala v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

This case presents the question of whether an application for suspension of deportation may be filed with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, rather than an Immigration Judge. Under the circumstances of this case, we conclude that it may not and deny the petition for review.

I

Maria de Jesus Ramirez-Zavala entered the United States without inspection in June 1989. She is the mother of two minor United States citizen children. In early 1997, she became aware that a significant change in United States immigration law was imminent. Although she had not been placed in deportation proceedings, she consulted an attorney and learned that Congress had passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”), Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009-546 (Sept. 30, 1996), which was to become law on April 1, 1997.

At the time she sought counsel, Ramirez-Zavala appeared eligible to apply for suspension of deportation under the then — effective provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254 (a)(1) (1996) (repealed by Pub.L. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009-615). The statutory remedy of suspension of deportation allowed an…