Lazaro
GONZALEZ-CUEVAS and Amelia Valerio de Gonzalez, Petitioners,
v.
IMMIGRATION AND
NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent,
Lazaro
GONZALEZ-CUEVAS and Amelia Valerio de Gonzalez, Petitioners,
v.
IMMIGRATION AND
NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent.
515 F.2d 1222 (5th
Cir. 1975)
United States Court of
Appeals
Fifth Circuit
(Texas)
July 18, 1975
Nos. 74-3213, 75-2206
Summary Calendar.[FN*]
FN* Rule 18, 5 Cir.; See Isbell Enterprises,
Inc. v. Citizens Casualty Co. of New York et al., 5 Cir. 1970, 431 F.2d 409.
July 18, 1975.
Aliens sought review of an order of deportation
entered against them for having remained in United States longer than permitted
and also appealed from action of Board of Immigration Appeals in refusing to
reopen proceedings. The proceedings were consolidated sua sponte. The Court of
Appeals held that the orders of deportation of alien parents who had remained
in United States longer than permitted did not violate any constitutional
rights of their citizen children, and their violation of immigration laws
created no extraordinary right in the parents to retain their illegally
acquired residency status while waiting legalization of entry and right to
remain through issuance of visas.
Petition for review denied and petition for
review of Board's refusal to reopen denied.
*1223 Sam Williamson, Houston, Tex., for
petitioners in both cases.
William B. Saxbe, Atty. Gen., U. S. Dept. of
Justice, Washington, D. C., Anthony J. P. Farris, U. S. Atty., Houston, Tex.,
for respondent in 74-3213.
Troy A. Adams, Jr., Director, Immig. & Nat.,
New Orleans, La., John L. Murphy, Chief Gov. Reg. Sec., Rex Young, Atty., Crim.
Div., Washington, D. C., for respondent in both cases.
Edward H. Levi, Atty. Gen., U. S. Dept. of
Justice, Washington, D. C., Edward B. McDonough, Jr., U. S. Atty., Helen M.
Eversberg, Asst. U. S. Atty., Houston, Tex., District Director, Immig. &
Nat. Ser., Los Fresnos, Tex., for respondent in 75-2206.
Petitions for Review of a Deportation Order by
Immigration and Naturalization Service (Texas Case).
Before WISDOM, BELL and CLARK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Petitioners seek review of an order of deportation
entered against them January 24, 1974 pursuant to Section 241(a)(2) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. s 1251(a)(2) for having remained in
the United States longer than permitted. Gonzalez-Cuevas entered the United
States in June 1967 and his wife entered in August 1968. Both were admitted as
non- immigrant visitors for pleasure for a period of time not to exceed
seventy-two hours. On June 21, 1973 both petitioners were granted the privilege
of voluntary departure without issuance of a show cause order. They did not
depart and deportation proceedings resulted. Petitioners, represented at the
deportation hearing by counsel of their choice, admitted deportability and
applied for voluntary departure pursuant to 8 U.S.C. s 1254. Petitioners are
the parents of nine children, two of whom were born in the United States.
Gonzalez-Cuevas is gainfully employed in this country. Neither petitioner has
been arrested or convicted of any offense here or in Mexico, the country of
their citizenship.
The immigration judge found petitioners
deportable and granted their request for voluntary departure in lieu of
deportation. The immigration judge further granted the total length of time
requested by counsel for petitioners on the ground that hardship to their
children who were then in school warranted a longer period for voluntary
departure than that requested by the government. The decision of the
immigration judge was appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. That board
dismissed the appeal on May 31, 1974. The appeal to this court in No. 74-3213
ensued with the request that this court remand the cause to develop a record
which would support the deferral of the order of deportation until such time as
petitioners could mature a priority position for the issuance of immigrant
visas. The basis of this request was an allegation of violation to the rights
of petitioners' citizen children. During the pendency of this initial appeal,
it was made known to this court that petitioners had filed a motion to reopen
with the Board of Immigration Appeals. We deferred the present proceedings
pending the board's action on that request. The board refused to reopen.
Petitioners' appeal in No. 75-2206 is from that latest refusal. We have
consolidated the two proceedings here sua sponte and, since no further issue is
now pending before the board, we proceed to decide both appeals.
*1224 [1] [2] In Perdido v. I.N.S., 420 F.2d 1179 (5th Cir. 1969), we
rejected the argument that deportation of parents of a citizen child deprives
the child of a constitutional right. In Aalund v. Marshall, 461 F.2d 710 (5th
Cir. 1972) we recognized that deportation of alien parents of citizen minor
children resulted in the de facto deportation of those children, but held this
consideration alone did not render the order for deportation of the parents an
abuse of discretion by Immigration Service officials.
[3] [4]
Petitioners, who illegally remained in the United States for the
occasion of the birth of their citizen children, cannot thus gain favored
status over those aliens who comply with the immigration laws of this nation.
Any ruling which had this effect would stand those statutes on their heads. See
Mendez v. Major, 340 F.2d 128 (8th Cir. 1965). Two things are clear. (1) Legal
orders of deportation to their parents do not violate any constitutional right
of citizen children and the orders here on review are valid orders. (2)
Petitioners' violations of the immigration laws create no extraordinary rights
in them, directly or vicariously through their citizen children, to retain
their illegally acquired residency status in this country while awaiting
legalization of their entry and right to remain through the issuance of visas.
[5]
We are asked to consider the actions of the United States Consul in
Monterrey, Mexico in assigning a priority date for the issuance of visas to
petitioners based upon the date of petitioners' application rather than the
date of the citizen childrens' birth. This action is not within the ambit of
our review. Cheng Fan Kwok v. I.N.S., 392 U.S. 206, 88 S.Ct. 1970, 20 L.Ed.2d
1037 (1968), and Foti v. I.N.S., 375 U.S. 217, 84 S.Ct. 306, 11 L.Ed.2d 281
(1963).
The petition for review in No. 74-3213 is
denied. The petition for review of the board's refusal to reopen in No. 75-2206
is denied.
[end]
Negative Indirect History:
Distinguished by Zaubi v. Hoejme, 530 F.Supp. 831 (W.D.Pa. Nov 17, 1980) (NO.
CIV. 80-1567)