Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(F)  AEDPA Limitation on INA § 212(c) Relief.  A noncitizen who has two or more convictions of crimes of moral turpitude, for each of which a sentence of one year or more was ordered by the court, is ineligible to apply for INA §   212(c) relief if s/he is in deportation proceedings begun prior to April 24, 1996 but before April 1, 1997.[281]  This situation is increasingly rare, however, because of the passage of time.

[281] INA § 212(c), as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, § 440(d), P.L. 104-132, 110 Stat. 279 (effective April 24, 1996).  If the proceedings had been commenced on or after April 24, 1996, however, the new AEDPA one-CMT sentence requirement of a potential sentence of one year or more for each of the two or more CMT convictions was sufficient to bar eligibililty for INA § 212(c) relief, since the new sentence requirement applies only to deportation or removal proceedings begun after the effective date of AEDPA.