00-3632 U.S. v. Carlos-Colmenares

By: dmc-admin//June 11, 2001//

Listen to this article

“Nothing in the statute’s language or background suggests that an illegally returning deportee cannot be convicted unless he knew he lacked the Attorney General’s express consent to reenter. On the contrary, the requirement that the Attorney General’s consent be ‘express’ is a warning that the alien not try to infer consent from ambiguous circumstances. The present defendant admitted signing a form, prior to his second deportation, that warned him that ‘should you wish to return to the United States you must write this office [i.e., the INS] or the United States Consular Office nearest your residence abroad as to how to obtain permission to return after deportation’ and that if he did not obtain the Attorney General’s express consent to return he would be punished under section 1326. It is unclear to us what room is left for a defendant to argue plausibly that, while failing to obtain the Attorney General’s consent, he had not intended to reenter the country in violation of the law.”

Affirmed.

Select Region or Brand

Upcoming Event