Mullin v. Al Otro Lado · ¶152

Before IIRIRA, the immigration system was split into “two types of proceedings in which” noncitizens could “be denied the hospitality of the United States: deportation hearings and exclusion hearings.” Landon v. Plasencia, 459 U. S. 21, 25 (1982). Noncitizens seeking to enter the United States, including those at the border who had not stepped foot onto U. S. soil, were placed into exclusion proceedings, while those “already physically in the United States” were subject to deportation hearings. Ibid. One incongruity in that system was that deportation proceedings conferred greater procedural protections than exclusion proceedings, which benefited noncitizens who entered illegally without inspection compared to those who showed up legally at ports of entry. See id., at 25–27.

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