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52 DePaul L. Rev. 901 (2002-2003)
Deporting Nonviolent Violent Aliens: Misapplication of 18 U.S.C. 16(B) to Aliens Convicted of Driving under the Influence

handle is hein.journals/deplr52 and id is 911 raw text is: DEPORTING NONVIOLENT VIOLENT ALIENS: MISAPPLICATION OF 18 U.S.C. § 16(B) TO ALIENS CONVICTED OF DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog? Five? No; calling a tail a leg don't make it a leg.' - Abraham Lincoln INTRODUCTION Anselmo Garcia, a thirty-year resident of the United States and citi- zen of Mexico, had been sober for five years, determined to change his life following a string of Texas convictions for driving while intoxi- cated (DWI).2 He successfully completed a probated sentence result- ing from his final conviction in 1993 and maintained a construction job to support his family.3 In 1998, however, Immigration and Naturaliza- tion Service (INS)4 officials confronted Garcia at a construction site in Dallas County, handcuffed him, and took him into custody.5 Later, INS officials initiated deportation proceedings6 against Garcia, expos- ing him to the threat of permanent separation from his wife, seven children, and seven grandchildren.7 Garcia's plight would ultimately 1. BARTLEI 'S FAMILIAR OUOIATIONS 458 (Morley ed. 1951). 2. The facts surrounding Anselmo Garcia's plight are taken from Frank Trejo, Felonsy law stings some immigrants; Code's use of deporting for past crimes disputed. DALLAS MORNING NEWS, Oct. 3, 1998, at 30A. 3. Id. 4. The INS is a federal agency within the Department of Justice. It is charged with the admin- istration of federal laws relating to admission, exclusion, deportation, and naturalization of aliens. For a general overview of the INS. see Robert James McWhirter, Immigration Law for Criminal Lawyers: Overview, 16 CRIM. JUST. 18 (2002). The United States Supreme Court has long recognized the federal government's exclusive power to form and administer immigration and deportation policies. See, e.g., De Canas v. Bica. 424 U.S. 351. 354 (1976) (noting that the -[p]ower to regulate immigration is unquestionably exclusively a federal power). 5. Trejo, supra note 2, at 30A. 6. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) elim- inated any legal distinction between deportation and removal proceedings. See IIRIRA, Pub. L. No. 104-208. §§ 304. 306 110 Stat. 3009-546 (codified at 8 U.S.C. §§ 1228-1228c. 1252) (2000)). Consistent with the IIRIRA. this Comment does not distinguish between deportation and re- moval proceedings. 7. Trejo. supra note 2. at 30A. For an analysis of the negative effects of deportation on nu- clear and extended families, see Emma 0. Guzman. Comment. 7he Dynamics of the Illegal Im- migration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996: The Splitting-Up of American Families. 2 SCHOLAR 95 (2000).