Filed: Apr. 23, 2004
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT April 23, 2004 Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk No. 03-60722 Summary Calendar NICKEY DEANE; CAROL ANGELINE DEANE; DUANE ANDRE DEANE; DENYSE DEANE, DANIELLA ALANA DEANE, Petitioners, versus JOHN ASHCROFT, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. - Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A75-947-568 BIA No. A75-947-565 BIA No. A75-947-566 BIA No. A75-947-569
Summary: United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT April 23, 2004 Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk No. 03-60722 Summary Calendar NICKEY DEANE; CAROL ANGELINE DEANE; DUANE ANDRE DEANE; DENYSE DEANE, DANIELLA ALANA DEANE, Petitioners, versus JOHN ASHCROFT, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. - Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A75-947-568 BIA No. A75-947-565 BIA No. A75-947-566 BIA No. A75-947-569 ..
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United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT April 23, 2004
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
No. 03-60722
Summary Calendar
NICKEY DEANE; CAROL ANGELINE DEANE; DUANE ANDRE DEANE;
DENYSE DEANE, DANIELLA ALANA DEANE,
Petitioners,
versus
JOHN ASHCROFT, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Respondent.
--------------------
Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
BIA No. A75-947-568
BIA No. A75-947-565
BIA No. A75-947-566
BIA No. A75-947-569
BIA No. A75-947-570
--------------------
Before HIGGINBOTHAM, DAVIS and PRADO, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Nickey, Carol, Duane, Denyse, and Daniella Deane** have
filed a consolidated petition for review of the Board of
Immigration Appeals’ (BIA’s) order in their removal proceedings.
They argue that the immigration judge (IJ) erred in determining
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
**
Nickey and Carol Deane are the parents of Duane, Denyse,
and Daniella. See blue brief, 2.
No. 03-60722
-2-
that they were removable based solely on uncontroverted
Non-Immigrant Information System (NIIS) reports which showed
the name, date of birth, and country of birth of each of the
petitioners, and which showed that each of the petitioners
had entered the United States as visitors in 1993 but had not
departed. They argue that the NIIS reports were never properly
authenticated or verified by the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS).
The test for admissibility of evidence in deportation
proceedings is whether the evidence is probative and
fundamentally fair so as not to deprive the alien of due
process. Bustos-Torres v. INS,
898 F.2d 1053, 1055 (5th Cir.
1990). The Federal Rules of Evidence are not applicable.
Id.
Whether the BIA erred in relying on the NIIS reports is a
question of law that this court reviews de novo. See Lopez-Gomez
v. Ashcroft,
263 F.3d 442, 444 (5th Cir. 2001)(BIA rulings on
questions of law are reviewed de novo); see also Yongo v. INS,
355 F.3d 27, 30 (1st Cir. 2004) (reviewing, de novo, a claim that
BIA relied on unauthenticated documents).
“[O]fficial INS documents have been admitted in deportation
proceedings . . . when the person to whom the document refers
does not attempt to impeach the information in the document.”
Bustos-Torres, 898 F.2d at 1056. Moreover, the requirement of
authentication “is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support
a finding that the matter in question is what the proponent
No. 03-60722
-3-
claims.” McConathy v. Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Corp.,
131 F.3d 558,
562 (5th Cir. 1998). Each of the NIIS reports offered into
evidence contained a stamp certifying that they were reports
obtained from INS records of which the Attorney General was the
legal custodian. The agent who offered the reports testified
regarding the source of the information in the reports and
explained how the reports were generated. This information was
sufficient to establish the authenticity of the reports. We find
the decision in Matter of Martinez, 16 I. & N. Dec. 723, 724,
1979 WL 44437 (BIA Apr. 25, 1979), to be inapposite.
During their testimony at the hearing, the petitioners
admitted their identities but invoked the Fifth Amendment in
response to all further questioning. Although their attorney
elicited testimony that information contained in NIIS reports
might not be correct, the petitioners made no attempt to show
that the information in the reports before the IJ were, in fact,
incorrect. Under such circumstances, the BIA did not err in
determining that the INS established deportability by clear and
convincing evidence. See Hernandez-Garza v. INS,
882 F.2d 945,
947 (5th Cir. 1989).
Accordingly, the petition for review is DENIED.
We do not consider the petitioners’ argument that the IJ
erred in determining that their motion to suppress was moot.
The petitioners’ motion for costs and attorney’s fees is DENIED.
See 5TH CIR. R. 47.8.2(a).