Yassini v. Crosland

In April 1979, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (defendant) issued a directive that granted departure deferrals until September 1979 to certain Iranian nationals who had entered the United States on student visas but had remained past their visa terms and were due to face deportation proceedings. This directive was issued because of the political instability in Iran at the time and was eventually extended to continue until June 1980. In November of 1979, however, Iranian militants stormed the United States embassy in Iran and took dozens of United States citizens hostage. As part of the response to the hostage crisis, President Carter ordered that deportation proceedings should commence for any Iranian students who were in the United States and out of compliance with visa requirements. In response to this policy, the INS rescinding the deferred-departure directive. A group of Iranian students (plaintiffs), including Masoud Mahdjoubi, a student who had previously been adjudicated to be in the United States unlawfully, sued the INS, claiming that the rescinding of the deferred-departure program was illegal. The district court certified the Iranian students as a class and dismissed the case on the merits. The court of appeals vacated the class certification and the dismissal and remanded the case for individual proceedings for each plaintiff. In Mahdjoubi’s case, his attempt to reopen his deportation proceeding was denied, and he was ordered to report for deportation. After the district court refused to grant a temporary restraining order and a stay of deportation, Mahdjoubi appealed and was granted a stay of deportation by the court of appeals pending the appeal. Mahdjoubi alleged among other arguments that rescinding the deferred departure violated his right to due process.