Just When You Thought Your Old Conviction After a Jury Trial Would Leave You with a Permanent Inability to Seek Relief in Removal Proceedings, Think Again!
On February 28, 2014, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a precedent decision opening new avenues of relief for many individuals with old criminal convictions they otherwise thought would forever prevent them from seeking relief before an Immigration Judge. See Matter of Ezzat H. Abdelghany , 26 I&N Dec. 254 (BIA 2014) . This BIA Decision held that "[a] lawful permanent resident who is otherwise eligible for relief under former section 212(c) of the Act may apply for such relief in removal or deportation proceedings without regard to whether the relevant conviction resulted from a plea agreement or a trial and without regard to whether he or she was removable or deportable under the law in effect when the conviction was entered". Id. Until this Decision was issued, those who were found guilty of a crime after a jury trial entered before April 24, 1996, were not eligible to apply for discretionary relief under former section 212(c) of the Act. Former 212(...