Blanche v. Lau (Immigration and Nationality Act)

Send us Fan MailIn Blanche v. Lau, the Supreme Court held that the Immigration and Nationality Act does not require a border officer to have clear and convincing evidence that a lawful permanent resident has committed a crime involving moral turpitude before treating that resident as an applicant for admission. Lau, a lawful permanent resident, was charged with trademark counterfeiting, briefly traveled abroad, and on his return was paroled rather than admitted because of the pending charge; after he pleaded guilty, the Government initiated removal proceedings charging him as inadmissible. The Second Circuit vacated the removal order, holding that the officer needed clear and convincing evidence of the crime at the time of reentry to deny him already-admitted status. Reversing, the Court explained that removing a permanent resident on inadmissibility grounds involves two steps—commission of the crime suffices to treat him as seeking admission, while conviction is required to find him inadmissible—and that nothing in the statute imposes a clear-and-convincing-evidence burden on border officers; the Board's evidentiary standard applies only at the removal hearing, where Lau's guilty plea easily satisfied it. The Court rejected Lau's argument that conviction must precede being treated as seeking admission, since the statute incorporates only the listed crimes and not their conviction requirement, and it remanded without deciding whether Lau's offense actually involved moral turpitude. Support the show