MARTINEZ-ANGUIANO

Citations

• 19 I. & N. Dec. 397

Syllabus

MARTINEZ-ANGUIANO, 19 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 1986) ID 3016 (PDF) (1) The Supreme Court's holding in INS v. Phinpathya, 464 U.S. 183 (1984), may be applied retroactively to cases pending at the time the Court rendered its decision. (2) The Supreme Court held in INS v. Phinpathya that the continuous physical presence requirement of section 244(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1254(a) (1982),must be literally construed and that any absence from the United States during the 7-year period, however brief, casual, or innocent, breaks the continuity of physical presence required forsuspension of deportation therefore, the Court's decision is not limited to cases where the alien engaged in fraud in order to reenter the United States following a departure.