Raul Morales-Izquierdo v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

This case presents the question, inter alia, of whether the reinstatement procedures established by the Attorney General at 8 C.F.R. § 241.8 violate the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). We conclude that the reinstatement procedures violate the INA and grant the petition for review.

I

Raul Morales-Izquierdo is a citizen and native of Mexico who illegally entered the United States in 1990. Four years later, Morales was apprehended and released given a mail-out Order to Show Cause. After failing to attend his hearing, he was ordered deported in absentia. Morales contends that he failed to attend his hearing because he received no notice of it; however, the record indicates that the hearing notice was mailed to the address where Morales was living at the time. A warrant of deportation was issued.

Morales was apprehended by the INS at Calexico, California and removed to Mexico in 1998. He attempted to re-enter the United States by using a false border crossing card and was once again apprehended at the port of entry at San Ysidro, California. Morales was expeditiously removed from the United States for misrepresenting a material fact, in violation of INA § 212(a)(6)(C)(i), 8…