ALYAZJI, 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011)

Cite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
1 We acknowledge and appreciate the very helpful briefs submitted by the parties and
by amicus curiae representing the American Immigration Council.
397
Matter of Alla Adel ALYAZJI, Respondent
Decided February 3, 2011
U.S. Department of Justice
Executive Office for Immigration Review
Board of Immigration Appeals
In general, an alien’s conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude triggers
removability under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C.
§ 1227(a)(2)(A)(i) (2006), only if the alien committed the crime within 5 years after the date
of the admission by virtue of which he or she was then present in the United States. Matter
of Shanu, 23 I&N Dec. 754 (BIA 2005), overruled in part.
FOR RESPONDENT: Wayne Sachs, Esquire, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
AMICUS CURIAE:1
Emily Creighton, Esquire, Washington, D.C.
FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: James A. Lazarus, Appellate
Counsel
BEFORE: Board Panel: FILPPU, PAULEY, and WENDTLAND, Board Members.
FILPPU, Board Member:
This case presents a recurring question as to the proper interpretation
of section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C.
§ 1227(a)(2)(A)(i) (2006), which (in pertinent part) authorizes the removal
of any alien who “is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed
within five years . . . after the date of admission,” provided the crime
is punishable by a sentence of imprisonment of 1 year or longer. In Matter
of Shanu, 23 I&N Dec. 754 (BIA 2005), vacated sub nom. Aremu
v. Department of Homeland Security, 450 F.3d 578 (4th Cir. 2006), we held,
first, that the term “admission” used in section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) referred
to adjustment of status as well as admission at the border; and second, that
an alien’s conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude supported removal
under that section so long as the crime was committed within 5 years after the
date of any admission made by the alien.
We now overrule this second holding of Matter of Shanu and conclude
instead that a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude triggersCite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
398
removability under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) only if the crime was committed
within 5 years after the date of the admission by virtue of which the alien was
then in the United States. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(g) (2010) (“By majority vote
of the permanent Board members, selected decisions of the Board rendered
by a three-member panel . . . may be designated to serve as precedents in all
proceedings involving the same issue or issues.”) This does not necessarily
require that the date of admission be the alien’s first, or even his most recent,
admission. But it does mean that there is only one “date of admission” that
is relevant to measuring the statutory 5-year period in relation to a particular
offense.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The respondent, who is alleged to be a native and citizen of Palestine, was
admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant in August 2001. He remained
in the United States thereafter, and in April 2006 his status was adjusted to that
of a lawful permanent resident of the United States. In January 2008, the
respondent was convicted of indecent assault in violation of Pennsylvania law,
based on a 2007 offense. As a result of that conviction, the Department
of Homeland Security (“DHS”) initiated these removal proceedings, in which
the respondent is charged with removability under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i)
of the Act, which provides as follows:
Any alien who—
(I) is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed within five years
(or 10 years in the case of an alien provided lawful permanent resident status under
section 245(j) of this title) after the date of admission, and
(II) is convicted of a crime for which a sentence of one year or longer may
be imposed,
is deportable.
Shortly after removal proceedings commenced, the respondent filed
a written motion requesting their termination on the ground that his indecent
assault conviction resulted from an offense committed more than 5 years after
his “admission” as a nonimmigrant in August 2001. The Immigration Judge
denied the motion based on Matter of Shanu, holding that the respondent
is removable because he committed his offense less than 5 years after his
“admission” to lawful permanent resident status in April 2006. The
respondent acknowledged Matter of Shanu in his motion but argued that the
Immigration Judge should decline to follow that precedent because its
rationale had been repudiated or criticized by several reviewing courts. The
Immigration Judge disagreed, finding that he was obliged to apply Matter
of Shanu. This timely appeal followed, and the respondent and the DHS haveCite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
2 Moreover, if adjustment of status is not an admission, then many lawful permanent
residents would be ineligible for immigration benefits that are exclusively available to those
who have been “admitted” to the United States, such as cancellation of removal under
section 240A(a) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(a) (2006). See Matter of Reza, 25 I&N Dec.
296, 298, 300 (BIA 2010).
399
filed extensive briefs. Furthermore, the American Immigration Council has
filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the respondent.
II. ANALYSIS
A. Legal Background
Section 237(a) of the Act provides in its opening sentence that the grounds
of deportability apply only to aliens “in and admitted to the United States.”
The language, structure, and purpose of the Act, taken as a whole, has led
us to conclude that the class of aliens “in and admitted to the United States”
consists of (1) those who entered the United States with the permission
of an immigration officer after being inspected at a port of entry; and (2) those
who entered the United States without permission or were paroled, but who
subsequently became lawful permanent residents.
Members of the second group may never have been “admitted” within the
meaning of section 101(a)(13)(A) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(13)(A)
(2006), which defines “admission” to mean “the lawful entry of the alien into
the United States after inspection and authorization by an immigration officer.”
But once they obtain lawful permanent resident status, which allows them
to work and live in the United States, they are assimilated to the same
status as one who has been admitted at the border with an immigrant visa.
E.g., Matter of Smith, 11 I&N Dec. 325, 326-27 (BIA 1965) (“An applicant
for adjustment of status under section 245 stands in the same position
as an applicant who seeks to enter the United States with an immigration visa
for permanent residence.”), superseded on other grounds by Matter of Hom,
16 I&N Dec. 112 (BIA 1977).
Indeed, if adjustment of status were not considered an admission under the
immigration laws, many lawful permanent residents would be considered
inadmissible, despite their lawful status, based on their presence in the
United States without having been admitted. Section 212(a)(6)(A)(i) of the
Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) (2006).2
It is the experience of this second
group that best serves to explain why the Board has often held that adjustment
of status is an “admission.” See Matter of Rosas, 22 I&N Dec. 616, 618-20
(BIA 1999) (holding that adjustment of status is an admission for purposesCite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
400
of section 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Act); see also Matter of Koljenovic, 25 I&N
Dec. 219, 221 (BIA 2010) (finding that at least some adjustments are
admissions for purposes of section 212(h)); Matter of Rodarte, 23 I&N Dec.
905, 908 (BIA 2006) (holding that adjustment is an admission for
purposes of section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II)); Matter of Shanu, 23 I&N Dec.
at 756-57 (holding that adjustment is an admission for purposes of section
237(a)(2)(A)(i)).
Inevitably, some aliens are admitted to the United States more than once
during their lives. For instance, some aliens who are admitted at the border
with immigrant visas were previously admitted as nonimmigrant students,
temporary employees, business visitors, or tourists. Others, such as the
respondent, are admitted with nonimmigrant visas and are later permitted
to obtain lawful permanent residence by means of adjustment of status,
at which time we have considered them to be once again “admitted”
as immigrants by operation of law. Still others are admitted to the
United States as temporary nonimmigrants in their youths, only to return some
years later without permission. If such aliens adjust to lawful permanent
resident status, they too would be treated under our past rulings as having been
“admitted” for a second time, despite having evaded inspection on the
occasion of their most recent entry.
When an alien with multiple admissions engages in criminal conduct,
complications can arise because many deportability grounds are focused
on convictions entered “at any time after admission,” without specifying
which of the alien’s various admissions those convictions must have followed.
E.g., sections 237(a)(2)(A)(ii), (iii), (B)(i), (C), (E)(i)–(ii) of the Act. Section
237(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act, at issue here, is especially problematic because
it requires a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude that was
committed within a limited period (i.e., 5 years) after the alien’s “date
of admission.” When an alien with a single such conviction has multiple
“admissions,” this language begs the question of which “date of admission”
should be viewed as having started the 5-year clock.
In Matter of Shanu, 23 I&N Dec. at 759-64, we concluded for a number
of reasons that the 5-year clock is reset each time an alien is admitted, such
that a crime involving moral turpitude committed within 5 years after any such
admission would suffice, upon conviction, to render the alien deportable.
Thus, we found the respondent in Shanu deportable because he committed
a crime involving moral turpitude less than 5 years after his admission
to lawful permanent resident status, even though he had also been admitted
as a nonimmigrant more than 5 years before he committed his crime. Cite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
401
B. Adjustment of Status as an Admission
In their appellate briefs, the parties and amicus have focused much of their
criticism on our precedents treating adjustment of status as an admission.
In particular, they note that some reviewing courts have criticized or rejected
the statutory interpretation embodied in Matter of Shanu, and they argue that
we should abandon that precedent outright in order to ensure that a uniform
nationwide interpretation of the statute exists. As the following discussion
explains, however, there is nothing “uniform” about the circuits’ treatment
of the “adjustment-as-admission” issue. Moreover, the parties and amicus
have not grappled to our satisfaction with the very real interpretive problems
that would arise from our adoption of their suggested alternative approaches.
As the parties and amicus point out, the Board’s treatment of adjustment
of status as an “admission” has been met with a mixed response in the Federal
courts of appeals. Yet most recently, the United States Court of Appeals for
the Seventh Circuit found that we acted reasonably in treating adjustment
of status as an admission under section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II) of the Act, which
provides for the inadmissibility of certain aliens who seek lawful “admission”
to the United States within 10 years after a prior period of unlawful presence
in this country. See Lemus-Losa v. Holder, 576 F.3d 752, 757 (7th Cir. 2009).
In several precedents, we held that section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II) applied not just
to aliens who were seeking admission at the border, but also to those who had
reentered the United States unlawfully and were seeking “admission”
by means of adjustment of status. See Matter of Rodarte, 23 I&N Dec. at 908;
see also Matter of Lemus, 24 I&N Dec. 373, 377 (BIA 2007). The
Seventh Circuit recognized that adjustment of status did not fit within the
definition of “admission” set forth at section 101(a)(13)(A) of the Act, but
it nevertheless found “no reason to disagree” with our “contextual reading”
of the statute, under which adjustment qualified as an admission. Lemus-Losa
v. Holder, 576 F.3d at 757 (internal quotation marks omitted).
The Ninth Circuit has likewise held that adjustment of status can
be an “admission.” For instance, in Ocampo-Duran v. Ashcroft, 254 F.3d
1133, 1134-35 (9th Cir. 2001), the court held that adjustment of status was
an “admission” for purposes of section 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Act, which
authorizes the removal of any alien convicted “at any time after admission”
of an aggravated felony. Although the respondent in Ocampo-Duran had
never been “admitted” within the meaning of section 101(a)(13)(A) of the Act,
the Ninth Circuit found him removable because he had been convicted
of an aggravated felony after being “‘lawfully admitted’ as a legal permanent
resident.” Id. (quoting section 101(a)(20) of the Act, which defines the term
“lawfully admitted for permanent residence”). We arrived at much the same
conclusion in Matter of Rosas, 22 I&N Dec. at 623-24. Cite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
3 The Abdelqadar court was evidently unaware of Matter of Shanu, which was decided only
a few weeks before the Seventh Circuit’s decision was published. In the wake of Shanu,
which arguably provided the explanation called for by the Abdelqadar court, the Seventh
Circuit has accepted that adjustment of status can be an admission, at least in some contexts.
See Lemus-Losa v. Holder, 576 F.3d at 757. 4 The Fifth Circuit has looked to section 101(a)(13)(A) as definitive authority when
construing the phrase “has previously been admitted to the United States as an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence” in the context of section 212(h) of the Act. Martinez
v. Mukasey, 519 F.3d 532, 542-45 (5th Cir. 2008). But see Matter of Koljenovic, 25 I&N
Dec. at 223 (distinguishing Martinez and holding that adjustment of status satisfies the “has
previously been admitted” requirement of section 212(h), at least where such adjustment was
the alien’s only admission).
402
In cases arising under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act, however,
the courts have been more reluctant to construe adjustment of status
as an “admission.” Specifically, the Sixth and Fourth Circuits have held that
for purposes of section 237(a)(2)(A)(i), the term “admission” is largely
cabined by the language of section 101(a)(13)(A). Zhang v. Mukasey, 509
F.3d 313, 315-16 (6th Cir. 2007); Aremu v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 450 F.3d
at 581-82. The Seventh Circuit has also declined to treat adjustment of status
as an admission in the context of section 237(a)(2)(A)(i), at least in the
absence of a Board precedent explaining why it should do so. Abdelqadar
v. Gonzales, 413 F.3d 668, 673-74 (7th Cir. 2005).3
Moreover, in a decision
issued before Matter of Shanu was published, the Ninth Circuit distinguished
Ocampo-Duran and held that the date of an alien’s adjustment of status could
not be considered “the date of admission” under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) if,
at the time of adjustment, the alien was already lawfully present in the
United States pursuant to an earlier nonimmigrant admission. Shivaraman
v. Ashcroft, 360 F.3d 1142, 1147-48 (9th Cir. 2004).4
The respondent and amicus point to these circuit court cases and argue
that treating adjustment of status as a de facto admission in all section
237(a)(2)(A)(i) cases is simply a bridge too far. Tellingly, however, neither
the parties nor amicus urges us to treat section 101(a)(13)(A) of the Act
as providing an exclusive definition of the term “admission.” On the contrary,
everyone seems to agree that adjustment of status can be an “admission” some
of the time. In the view of the respondent and amicus, however, the best
approach would be to treat adjustment of status as an admission only with
respect to those aliens who had never previously been “admitted” within
the meaning of section 101(a)(13)(A). But while this superficially modest
proposal might simplify our analysis in this particular case, its broader
implications give us pause.
For example, imagine an alien who was admitted to the United States
as a child in 1990 on a nonimmigrant tourist visa and departed this countryCite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
403
with his parents 2 weeks later. If that same alien, now a grown man, returned
to the United States without inspection in 2000 and adjusted status in 2002
under section 245(i) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i) (2006), the rule advocated
by the respondent and amicus would presumably immunize the alien from
removal for a subsequent conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude,
simply because no such offense could possibly have been committed within
5 years after the date of his 1990 admission as a nonimmigrant. This
hypothetical is far from implausible, and we remain convinced that such
an interpretation “would attach . . . disproportionate significance to long-past
nonimmigrant admissions and . . . would . . . seriously undermine the deterrent
effect of section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) as it relates to aliens with multiple
admissions.” Matter of Shanu, 23 I&N Dec. at 761.
The respondent’s preferred rule would also potentially upset decades
of well-settled law in some of the most common relief contexts. Sections
212(h) and (i) of the Act permit the Attorney General to waive the application
of various grounds of inadmissibility if a “denial of admission” or a “refusal
of admission” would result in extreme hardship to the alien’s close relatives
in the United States. For many years, the Attorney General and the DHS have
permitted aliens in the United States to seek such waivers in conjunction with
adjustment of status, on the theory that an application for adjustment of status
under section 245 of the Act requires a showing that the alien “is admissible
to the United States for permanent residence” and is, for all practical purposes,
the equivalent of an application for admission as an immigrant. E.g., Matter
of Parodi, 17 I&N Dec. 608 (BIA 1980). But if adjustment of status is not
an “admission” for previously admitted aliens, as the respondent and amicus
argue, then such aliens would seem to be ineligible for waivers in the
adjustment context, since any prospective hardship befalling their family
members would no longer be attributable to a denial or refusal of “admission.”
Meanwhile, aliens who seek adjustment after having entered the United States
unlawfully would remain eligible for waivers because, for them, adjustment
of status would still be an admission. We are reluctant to read such
an apparently senseless distinction into the Act.
In order to avoid outcomes such as these, the DHS urges us to adopt the
interpretation of the term “admission” proposed by the respondent and amicus,
but only in section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) cases. In other contexts, the DHS would
have us take a more flexible approach, under which “admission” would
be construed in accordance with section 101(a)(13)(A) except where
vindication of the legislative purpose and the avoidance of absurd results
dictates a broader reading. In the view of the DHS, the “admission” concept
has so many applications and is used in so many different ways throughout the
Act that it would be “futile” for us to restrict its meaning by reference
to section 101(a)(13)(A) or any other universal standard. Thus, the DHS
argues that we should “reserve for another day how to interpret ‘admission’Cite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
404
in . . . other contexts, rather than attempt to craft one definition that applies
to all sections of the Act and in all scenarios.” We are skeptical, however, that
such flexibility is permitted to us or is even desirable.
As a rule, a single statutory term should be interpreted consistently. Clark
v. Martinez, 543 U.S. 371, 382 (2005). That said, we realize that statutorily
defined terms may, if general enough, accommodate subtly different
meanings in different contexts, provided that all those various meanings are
consistent with the one statutory definition. E.g., Envtl. Def. v. Duke Energy
Corp., 549 U.S. 561, 574 (2007); Robinson v. Shell Oil Co., 519 U.S. 337,
342-44 (1997). But here, the DHS invites us to redefine the term “admission”
on a case-by-case basis, sometimes consistently with the literal terms of the
statutory definition and sometimes not, with our interpretation customized
to meet each new context. We are aware of no principle of law that would
allow us to do so. Furthermore, such an inconsistent understanding of what
constitutes an “admission” would introduce unpredictability and incoherence
to the law, whereas the whole point of treating adjustment of status
as an admission in all cases is to make the whole Act work coherently and
uniformly in all its applications.
We are sensitive to the fact that our treatment of adjustment of status
as an admission is a controversial practice in some contexts, but we are also
troubled by some of the implications of the contrary rules advocated by the
parties. In the final analysis, we conclude that resolution of the present matter
does not warrant disturbing our existing precedents holding that adjustment
of status constitutes an admission. As we understand it, the respondent’s
complaint about Matter of Shanu is not solely that we treated adjustment
of status as an “admission,” but also that we construed the phrase “the date
of admission” to encompass the date of any admission. With respect to that
issue, we concede the force of the respondent’s complaint.
C. “The Date of Admission”
In adopting the “any admission” rule, we purported to follow Supreme
Court and Board precedents that had adopted a similar “any entry” rule when
construing the language of various statutory predecessors of section
237(a)(2)(A)(i). Matter of Shanu, 23 I&N Dec. at 762-63. Those statutes,
which required a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude committed
“within 5 years after entry,” had for many years been interpreted to render
an alien deportable so long as the crime was committed within 5 years after
any entry. See, e.g., United States ex rel. Volpe v. Smith, 289 U.S. 422 (1933);
Matter of Sanchez, 17 I&N Dec. 218 (BIA 1980); Matter of A-, 6 I&N Dec.
684 (BIA 1955). We are now persuaded, however, that our decision in Shanu
placed too much focus on historical practice and too little on the actual
language of the current statute.Cite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
405
In 1990 Congress reorganized the grounds of deportability and substantially
changed their language. Of particular relevance here, Congress repealed the
“after entry” language construed in Volpe and its progeny and substituted
a new ground of deportability that focused on convictions for which the
underlying crime involving moral turpitude was committed “within five years
after the date of entry.” Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-649,
§ 602(a), 104 Stat. 4978, 5077, 5079 (effective with regard to proceedings
commenced on or after March 1, 1991) (emphasis added) (codified at section
241(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) (Supp. II 1990)).
In 1997, the term “entry” was replaced with “admission,” but the phrase
“within five years after the date of” was carried over into the new statute.
Matter of Shanu, 23 I&N Dec. at 763.
In discussing these statutory changes in Shanu, we found “little significance
in Congress’s addition of the words ‘the date of’ preceding ‘admission’
[because] [i]t was no less important under prior law for an adjudicator
to identify a particular date when seeking to ascertain, in retrospect, when the
5-year clock began to run under the predecessor versions of section
237(a)(2)(A)(i).” Id. at 763 n.6. But what we failed to perceive in Shanu was
that Congress’s decision to substitute the words “five years after the date
of admission” for “five years after entry” had altered the grammatical structure
of the phrase in a manner that undermined the “any entry” rule.
The phrase “within five years after entry,” employed in earlier versions
of the statute, was general and open-ended. The phrase “within five years after
the date of admission” is more specific; it contains a definite article (“the”) and
a singular object (“date”). This narrower language most naturally connotes
a single date, and it does not invite the same flexibility that the “after entry”
language of the prior statute invited. E.g., Zhang v. Mukasey, 509 F.3d
at 315-16; Shivaraman v. Ashcroft, 360 F.3d at 1146. We paid insufficient
attention to this aspect of section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) when we decided Matter
of Shanu, a deficiency we now remedy. Specifically, we now hold that the
statutory phrase “the date of admission” necessarily refers to a single date
in relation to the pertinent offense; thus, not every “date of admission” triggers
the 5-year clock.
Having concluded that the reference to “the date of admission” in section
237(a)(2)(A)(i) refers to a single date in relation to the pertinent offense,
we must now decide which date of admission applies when confronted with
an alien who has been admitted more than once. The statutory language does
not specify which of an alien’s various admissions should be considered, and
thus we find the statute to be ambiguous in that regard. We must therefore
arrive at a reasonable construction of the statute, taking into account the
language and structure of the Act as a whole. See Samantar v. Yousuf,
130 S. Ct. 2278, 2289 (2010) (“‘[W]e do not . . . construe statutory phrasesCite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
5 Instead, such an alien would be “inadmissible” under section 212(a)(6)(A)(i) of the Act
by virtue of his unlawful presence and would also be subject to a charge under
section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Act on the basis of his conviction for a crime involving
moral turpitude.
6
This interpretation will sometimes incidentally lead us to focus upon the date of an alien’s
first admission, but not always. On the contrary, a rule of decision focused exclusively
on the date of the alien’s first admission, even if long past and untethered to his presence
in the United States when the crime involving moral turpitude was committed, is not
reconcilable with the language and purpose of the statute and would lead to “peculiar
consequences” when applied to aliens who were briefly admitted many years ago (such
as tourists, perhaps) and who remained outside the United States for decades thereafter
before being readmitted. Matter of Shanu, 23 I&N Dec. at 761. We therefore make clear
that the “date of admission” that triggers the 5-year clock under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) need
not always be the alien’s first admission.
7 In holding that a previously admitted alien’s 5-year period could be reset upon
adjustment of status, the Board, in Matter of Shanu, 23 I&N Dec. at 758, 759-60, found
it significant that such a resetting of the clock appeared to be contemplated by the statute’s
parenthetical reference to aliens “provided lawful permanent resident status under section
245(j)” of the Act, all of whom were necessarily “admitted” as nonimmigrants before they
obtained lawful permanent resident status. Section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) authorizes the removal
(continued…)
406
in isolation; we read statutes as a whole.’”) (quoting United States v. Morton,
467 U.S. 822, 828 (1984)).
As we noted earlier, an alien can be “deportable” under section 237(a) of the
Act only if he is “in and admitted to the United States,” that is, ordinarily,
present in the United States pursuant to an admission. That means that
an alien who commits a crime involving moral turpitude while in the
United States after entering without inspection is not “deportable,” even
if he had been admitted at some point in the past, because such past admissions
are untethered to the period of presence during which he committed the crime.5
Given that section 237(a) is focused on admission plus presence, we find that
the most natural reading of section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) is that the phrase “the date
of admission” refers to the date of the admission by virtue of which the alien
was present in the United States when he committed his crime.6
Thus, to ascertain an alien’s deportability under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i)
of the Act, we look first to the date when his crime was committed. If, on that
date, the alien was in the United States pursuant to an admission that occurred
within the prior 5-year period, then he is deportable. Conversely, the alien
is not deportable if he committed his offense more than 5 years after the date
of the admission pursuant to which he was then in the United States.
Moreover, under this understanding of the phrase “the date of admission,” the
5-year clock is not reset by a new admission from within the United States
(through adjustment of status).7
Rather, such a new admission merely extendsCite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
(…continued)
of such aliens if they are convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed within
10 years after the date of admission, and we understood the regulations implementing section
245(j) to reflect the Attorney General’s view that this 10-year period is to be measured from
the date when such aliens acquired lawful permanent resident status, not from the date when
they were first admitted as nonimmigrants. See 8 C.F.R. §§ 245.11(h), 1245.11(h) (2010).
The Fourth Circuit, in rejecting Matter of Shanu, believed that the Board had correctly
interpreted the section 245(j) regulations but nevertheless held that we erred by relying
on those regulations for our “interpretation of the plain meaning of a statute.” Aremu
v. DHS, 450 F.3d at 582. The Attorney General’s interpretation of the Act, however,
if embodied in these regulations, would have the force and effect of law as to this Board and
would need to be followed unless and until invalidated by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Matter of Fede, 20 I&N Dec. 35, 36 (BIA 1989).
The respondent did not acquire lawful permanent resident status under section 245(j),
and thus we have no present occasion to decide what effect, if any, the rule we announce
today will have for such aliens, or to fully reexamine the impact of the regulations pertaining
to section 245(j) adjustees. Indeed, the precise wording of those regulations may allow for
alternative readings, despite their initial apparent import. For present purposes, it suffices
to observe that the statutory language pertaining to adjustees under section 245(j) was
adopted in 1994 through special, stand-alone legislation and is implemented by means
of unique regulatory requirements, potentially providing a basis for separate treatment,
despite the general undesirability of different rules applying within a single statutory
provision. See Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Pub. L. No.
103-322, § 130003(d), 108 Stat. 1796, 2026 (“VCCLEA”), amended by Illegal Immigration
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Div. C of Pub. L. No. 104-208,
§§ 671(a)(4)(B), (7), 110 Stat. 3009-546, 3009-721 (effective as if included in the
VCCLEA); see also 8 C.F.R. §§ 245.11, 1245.11.
8 While our construction of the statute is largely consistent with that adopted by the
Ninth Circuit in Shivaraman v. Ashcroft, 360 F.3d at 1148-49, it is subtly different.
In Shivaraman, the Ninth Circuit held that the date of adjustment of status could not
be deemed “the date of admission” with respect to an alien who had previously been
admitted as a nonimmigrant and had maintained continuous lawful nonimmigrant status until
the date of adjustment. We agree with that holding. However, Shivaraman can also be read
to imply that a different rule might be appropriate if the alien had overstayed (or otherwise
violated) his nonimmigrant status before adjusting. We now make clear that such
an overstay or violation would have no effect on our analysis under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i)
of the Act.
407
an existing period of presence that was sufficient in and of itself to support the
alien’s susceptibility to the grounds of deportability.8
In order to illustrate how we understand the statute to operate, we return
to our earlier hypothetical involving an alien who was admitted to the
United States as a nonimmigrant tourist in 1990 on a family trip with his
parents, and who returned to his home country a few weeks later in compliance
with the terms of his temporary visa. Imagine that in the summer of 1998, theCite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
9 The situation would have been different had the respondent adjusted status in 2006 after
entering the United States without inspection. In that case, the date of adjustment would
have triggered the running of the 5-year clock because it would have commenced (rather
than extended) the respondent’s then-current period of presence in the United States
following an admission.
408
same alien was once again admitted to the United States, this time
as a nonimmigrant college student. In 2002, however, the alien committed
a crime involving moral turpitude for which he was convicted in 2004.
In 2005, the DHS commenced removal proceedings, charging the alien with
deportability under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act. Under the interpretation
of the statute we adopt today, the alien is deportable because, on the date when
he committed his offense in 2002, he was in the United States pursuant to his
admission as a nonimmigrant student in 1998, less than 5 years earlier.
Although the alien’s first admission occurred in 1990, more than 5 years
before he committed his crime, that first “date of admission” is irrelevant
because the alien was not in the United States pursuant to that first admission
when he committed his crime.
Our rule leads to a very different outcome in the respondent’s case,
however. When the respondent committed his crime involving moral turpitude
in 2007, he was in the United States pursuant to his 2001 admission
as a nonimmigrant. Inasmuch as the respondent committed his offense more
than 5 years after that “date of admission,” he is not deportable, even though
we would treat him as having been “readmitted” by means of adjustment
of status in April 2006. The respondent’s 2006 adjustment of status, which our
case law deems to be an admission, did not reset the 5-year clock because
it added nothing to the deportability inquiry; it may have extended
or reauthorized his then-existing presence, but it did not change his status
vis-à-vis the grounds of deportability.9
III. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we hold that an alien is deportable under section
237(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act if he (1) is convicted of a crime involving moral
turpitude that was punishable by a term of imprisonment of at least 1 year
and (2) was, on the date of the commission of that crime, present in the
United States pursuant to an admission that occurred not more than 5 years
earlier. In so ruling, we find it unnecessary to disturb our existing precedents
holding that adjustment of status is an “admission.” When the respondent
committed the crime upon which his removal charge is based, he was present
in the United States pursuant to an admission that occurred more than 5 yearsCite as 25 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2011) Interim Decision #3703
409
before. Thus, he is not removable under section 237(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Act,
and his removal proceedings will be terminated.
ORDER: The appeal is sustained and the removal proceedings are
terminated.