The court of appeals denied a petition. The court held that the regulation setting a deadline to reopen immigration proceedings to seek relief under former §212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act is a constitutionally sound procedural rule.
Juan Carlos Tapia Luna, a native and citizen of Mexico, was admitted to the United States in 1990 as an immigrant. In 1993, he was convicted in California state court of receiving stolen property following a plea of guilty, and was sentenced to one year and four months in prison. Due to this conviction, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) commenced removal proceedings against him in 2000. The government charged Tapia with removability for having committed a crime of moral turpitude within five years of admission and for having been convicted of an aggravated felony offense.
