The Supreme Court took no action today on two petitions for certiorari regarding the scope of Both § 212(c) petitions, Jerez-Sanchez v. Holder, No. 09-1211 (2d Cir.), and Canto v. Holder, No. 09-133 (7th Cir.), concerned the scope of § 212(c) relief after INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289 (2001).
A sharp circuit split has developed among federal courts of appeal since 2001. Some courts of appeal have interpreted St. Cyr to mean that § 212(c) relief remains available for all convictions entered prior to 1996. Other courts of appeal have concluded that § 212(c) relief remains available only if the non-citizen subjectively relied on the existence of § 212(c) relief when entering a plea or going to trial. Still other circuits have determined that § 212(c) relief remains available only for individuals who entered a plea and not for individuals who were convicted after a trial.
Though the Court appears to have turned down the opportunity to establish a uniform rule across the circuits today the lingering circuit split suggests that it will eventually have to revisit § 212(c).
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