Leave for Appeal: Departure as a Requirement for Review of Deportation Orders

In this Article, Mr. Spiro addresses the congressional amendments to the Immigration Naturalization Act meant to combat the legal maneuvers calculated to defeat the execution of deportation orders. The addition of section 106 was meant to prohibit all appeals of deportation orders under which an alien had already departed the United States. The author analyzes the legislative history of the provision and notes that Congress intended to the departure rule to apply even in more egregious cases of INS misbehavior. The author discusses federal circuit law and finds that neither the rule nor its exception best serve the dual objectives of deterring manipulative delay while affording fairness to aliens seeking to challenge the finality of their deportation.

To combat the filing of frivolous appeals, the author recommends amending section 106 so that deportation appeals be permitted only from abroad.