Cancellation of Removal or Cancellation of Relief - The 1996 IIRIRA Amendments: A Review and Critique of Section 240A(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
![handle is hein.journals/geoimlj15 and id is 11 raw text is: CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL OR
CANCELLATION OF RELIEF? -THE 1996 IIRIRA
AMENDMENTS: A REVIEW AND CRITIQUE OF
SECTION 240A(A) OF THE IMMIGRATION AND
NATIONALITY ACT
PAUL B. HUNKER HI'
INTRODUCTION
On September 30, 1996, Congress enacted The Illegal Immigration Re-
form and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA).2 The bill radically
revised immigration law and procedure.3 Lawmakers, law professors, stu-
dents, and practitioners have discussed, debated, praised and criticized
various provisions of HRIRA.4 Some of the most significant changes for INS
attorneys and the private bar relate to relief from removal for long-term
lawful permanent resident (LPR) aliens. Many of these removable LPRs are
now ineligible for relief.
Before IIRIRA, an LPR who committed a crime or other act rendering her
inadmissible or deportable from the United States was eligible for a waiver of
deportation. An immigration judge had discretion to grant or deny an LPR's
request for a waiver, if the LPR had seven years of lawful unrelinquished
1. Assistant Regional Counsel, Central Region, United States Department of Justice, Immigra-
tion and Naturalization Service. B.A., 1989, Marquette University; J.D., 1992, Georgetown Univer-
sity Law Center. The author would like to thank Philip B. Busch, Edward R. Grant, Judith G.
Patterson, and Stephen W. Smith for their helpful comments and constructive criticisms of various
drafts of this article. Of course, the opinions contained herein are solely the author's and do not
represent those of the Department of Justice, any of its agencies, or any of its employees.
2. Pub. L. No. 104-208, div. C, 110 Stat. 3009-546 (codified in scattered sections of 8 and 18
U.S.C.) [hereinafter IIRIRA].
3. Representative Lamar Smith, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Immigration and
Claims, hailed it as the most significant illegal immigration bill in a generation. David LaGesse,
Approval of Overhaul Caps in Immigration Fight: Law Toughens U.S. Effort to Halt Illegal Entry,
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, Oct. 1, 1996, at 13A (statement by Representative Lamar Smith, the
chairman of the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims).
4. See Terry Coonan, Dolphins Caught in Congressional Fishnets - Immigration Law's New
Aggravated Felons, 12 GEO. IMMIGR. L.J. 589 (1998); Elwin Griffith, The Road Between the Section
212(c) Waiver and Cancellation of Removal Under Section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality
Act-The Impact of The 1996 Reform Legislation, 12 GEO. IMMIGR. L.J. 65 (1997); Sara A. Martin,
Note, Postcards from the Border: A Result-Oriented Analysis of Immigration Reform Under the
AEDPA and IIRIRA, 19 B.C. THIRD WORLD L.J. 683 (1999); Symposium, Understanding the Impact
of the 1996 Deportation Laws and the Limited Scope of Proposed Reforms, 113 HARV. L. REV. 1936
(2000); Lamar Smith & Edward R. Grant, Immigration Reform: Seeking the Right Reasons, 28 ST.
MARY'S L.J. 883 (1997).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/geoimlj15&div=8&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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