United States v. Hector Parrales-Guzman
Opinion
In 2001, an immigration judge (IJ) ordered Hector Parrales-Guzman removed based on his felony conviction for driving while intoxicated (DWI) under Texas law. The IJ determined that Parrales-Guzman was removable because his DWI conviction qualified as an "aggravated felony" under
Parrales-Guzman moved to dismiss his indictment claiming that his 2001 removal order was invalid. His main thrust was that the definition of "crime of violence" in
In his supplemental brief, Parrales-Guzman argues that we should remand to the district court so that it can consider his motion to dismiss the indictment once again. The government argues that the district court's judgment should be affirmed because § 1326(d) bars Parrales-Guzman's collateral attack on his 2001 removal order. We agree with the government.
We review
de novo
a district court's denial of a motion to dismiss an indictment, including any underlying constitutional claims.
United States v. Villanueva-Diaz
,
(1) the alien exhausted any administrative remedies that may have been available to seek relief against the order;
(2) the deportation proceedings at which the order was issued improperly deprived the alien of the opportunity for judicial review; and
(3) the entry of the order was fundamentally unfair.
As a threshold matter, Parrales-Guzman fails at the first prong because he did not exhaust the administrative remedies that were available to him.
See
§ 1326(d). An alien exhausts administrative remedies by raising an issue "either on direct appeal or in a motion to reopen" before the BIA.
Omari v. Holder
,
Parrales-Guzman's sole argument has been that § 1326(d) 's bar on collateral attacks does not attach because his 2001 removal order was
void ab initio
as it rested on an unconstitutionally vague statute, § 16(b). We reject this argument as it upends Congress's mandate that collateral review in the course of re-entry prosecutions be available only in a narrow set of circumstances.
See
§ 1326(d). Such an argument
*708
also enlarges the Supreme Court's observation that "[i]t is precisely the unavailability of effective judicial review of the administrative determination" which warrants a collateral attack at a later criminal proceeding.
Mendoza-Lopez
,
AFFIRMED. 1
Because Parrales-Guzman's collateral attack fails at the first prong of § 1326(d), we do not consider the government's arguments regarding the two remaining prongs.
See
Mendoza-Mata
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Hector PARRALES-GUZMAN, Also Known as Hector Guzman Parrales, Also Known as Hector Guzman Perales, Also Known as Hector Parrales Guzman, Also Known as Hector Perales-Guzman, Also Known as Hector Parrales, Defendant - Appellant.
- Cited By
- 17 cases
- Status
- Published