Barahona-Gomez v. Ashcroft

No. C97-0895 CW (N.D. Cal. Dec. 18, 2002) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55133

Description

Court Approves Settlement in Ninth Circuit Immigrants’ Challenge to Numerical Cap and “Stop-Time Rule” in Suspensions of Deportation

Abstract

The district court approved a settlement agreement in this class action lawsuit challenging provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). Before IIRIRA, which took effect April 1, 1997, any number of aliens who received a discretionary suspension of deportation were allowed to adjust their status to lawful permanent residence. Most aliens were ineligible for suspension of deportation unless they had been physically present in the United States for seven years. IIRIRA imposed an absolute cap of 4,000 on the number of suspensions of deportation and adjustments of status that the U.S. attorney general was authorized to grant in each fiscal year; before the statute was to take effect, defendants, fearing that the numerical limit had nearly been reached only a few months into the fiscal year, ordered that no further suspension applications be granted. Also under IIRIRA, service of an Immigration and Naturalization Service notice to appear terminated a person’s accumulation of time toward the seven-year requirement (the stop-time rule). Defendants’ directive to cease granting suspension applications threatened people affected by the stop-time rule with permanent loss of eligibility for suspension. In March 1997 the district court preliminarily enjoined deportation of a class of plaintiffs who were affected by the stop-time rule and had been determined eligible for suspension of deportation but for whom final adjudication had not yet occurred. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the injunction. Under the settlement, class members’ cases would be decided without regard to the stop-time rule. Eligible class members who might have been granted suspension of deportation between February 13, 1997, when the directive against granting further suspension applications was issued, and April 1, 1997, when IIRIRA took effect, would be allowed to apply for “renewed suspension” under the standards in place before April 1, 1997.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Docket Date
2002-12-18 00:00:00+00:00

Files

Filed under: