Tellez v. Lynch, No. 12-73424 (9th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, a Mexican citizen, seeks review of the denial of her application for a waiver of inadmissibility and adjustment of her status to that of a lawful permanent resident. At issue is a question of first impression for the federal courts: Has an alien “reentered” the United States for the purpose of reinstating a removal order, 8 U.S.C. 1231(a)(5), when she was previously removed at a border-crossing checkpoint? The court held that that when, as here, an alien is issued an expedited removal order at a U.S. border-crossing checkpoint, that alien has entered the United States for the purpose of the reinstatement provision’s “reentry” requirement. The court applied the plain meaning of the provision in question and, under this definition, petitioner entered the country when she left Mexico and came into the sovereign territory of the United States at the San Ysidro border-crossing station. The court noted that its decision—which is limited to the reinstatement provision’s definition of “reentry”—does not disturb the longstanding common-law definition. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review.
Court Description: Immigration. The panel denied Jessica Tellez’s petition for review from the Department of Homeland Security’s reinstatement of her expedited removal order on the ground that she illegally reentered the United States. The panel held, on a question of first impression, that an alien had previously “entered” the United States for the purpose of the Immigration and Nationality Act’s reinstatement provision’s “reentry” requirement when the alien was issued a prior expedited removal order at a border- crossing checkpoint. The panel noted that its decision is limited to the reinstatement provision’s definition of reentry, and that it does not disturb the longstanding common-law definition of “entry.” The panel wrote that it held only that the INA’s reinstatement requirement of reentry after an initial removal encompasses those who were removed after coming into the U.S. at a border-crossing checkpoint and who subsequently returned. The panel also held that Tellez’s subsequent reentry was illegal even though she presented herself at the border and was waved through without question. TELLEZ V. LYNCH 3
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