Safe Havens



 
 

§ 7.66 (D)

 
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(D)  Retroactive Application of Yanez Rule to Prior Convictions Entered In Reliance on Previous Rule Violates Due Process.  One district court has held that retroactive application of the BIA decision in Matter of Yanez-Garcia[491] violated the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process clause for a noncitizen who relied upon the former rule of Matter of KVD,[492] in entering a guilty plea to possession of a controlled substance, in the belief that his offense was not an aggravated felony and he would be eligible for cancellation of removal.[493]


[491] Matter of Yanez-Garcia, 23 I. & N. Dec. 390 (BIA 2002).  See Yanez-Garcia v. Ashcroft, 388 F.3d 280 (7th Cir. Nov. 2, 2004) (dismissing for lack of jurisdiction a petition for review seeking to reverse Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision that single possession offense can qualify as aggravated felony drug trafficking crime).

[492] Matter of KVD, 22 I. & N. Dec. 1163 (BIA 1999).

[493] Pradith v. Ashcroft, CV 03-1304-BR (D.C. Ore. 2003) (unpublished).

 

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