After several months of reflection, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit determined that the penalty for returning to the United States after deportation is not racist and that there is nothing unconstitutional about it.
It was in August 2021 that Judge Miranda Doe declared the law that declares the return of a deportee to be a “serious crime” unconstitutional.
Why is this matter so important for migrants?
At the time, the ruling by a federal judge in Nevada represented an opportunity for thousands of immigrants who returned to the US after being deported to get their papers in order.
Currently, and following appeals court rulings, those returning after deportation commit a “crime” or serious crime.
It was last March, when the Court of Appeals took up the case, which according to activists and civil organizations, represents a historic precedent for immigrants returning to the US after being deported.
According to Astaghik Herpetian, an attorney at the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Miranda du had racist intentions for the congressmen who approved the law and analyzed its impact on Latinos.
Unfortunately, the Court of Appeals found that the judge made an error of law and fact in finding that racist animosity was behind a law that criminalizes re-entry into the US after deportation.
What does the law say about returning to the US after deportation?
In force since 1953, the law punishing return to the United States after deportation appears in section 1326 of the United States Legal Code.
Under the law, people who return, attempt to return, or are present in the US will be punished if they:
The maximum penalties for returning to the United States after deportation are:
