Background
Maria Carmen Morin-Moreno appealed her conviction and sentence for illegal reentry in violation of Section Eighteen hundred twenty-six of Title Eight of the United States Code. She moved to dismiss the indictment, asserting that her three prior removal orders were invalid under Section Eighteen hundred twenty-six subsection D and that the statute violated equal protection.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviewed the denial of the motion to dismiss de novo. To succeed, a defendant must demonstrate exhaustion of administrative remedies, a deprivation of judicial review, and fundamental unfairness. The court found that Morin-Moreno could not demonstrate prejudice from her 2016 expedited removal because she used a fraudulent passport, had multiple prior findings of inadmissibility, and had an extensive criminal history including drug-related felonies. The court also found that errors in her 2009 and 2011 removals did not infect the 2016 removal because she had not lost legal permanent resident status. The equal protection challenge was dismissed as foreclosed by precedent.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces the high burden for defendants challenging removal orders in illegal reentry cases, particularly where fraud and criminal history are present.
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