In re Marin

Marin (plaintiff) was a native and citizen of Colombia who came to the United States in 1965 and was admitted as a lawful permanent resident. In 1976, Marin pleaded guilty to the felony charge of selling cocaine and was sentenced to one year to life in prison. After Marin had served 30 months of this sentence, an order was issued charging him with being deportable under § 241(a)(11) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Marin was single, childless, and had no familial connections within the United States. Marin’s brother and sister lived in Colombia. Marin was employed only sporadically. At the deportation hearing, Marin applied for relief under § 212(c) of the INA, which provided, in part, that aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence who proceeded abroad and returned to a lawful, unrelinquished domicile of seven consecutive years could be admitted in the discretion of the deciding body without regard to certain exclusionary grounds, including conviction of a drug offense. At the hearing, Marin presented no evidence that he would have difficulty returning to Colombia. The immigration judge (IJ) determined that Marin was statutorily eligible for relief from deportation under § 212(c), even though he had not proceeded abroad subsequent to his entry for lawful permanent residence. However, the IJ declined to exercise his discretion in granting Marin such relief, finding that Marin failed to present unusual or outstanding equities that outweighed the adverse matters of record. Marin appealed the IJ’s decision.