Deportation order revoked by court

Atlanta — A federal appeals court has revoked a deportation order for a woman who pleaded no contest to taking a pair of shoes from a store in Florida, then was presumed by immigration officials to have committed a crime of moral turpitude.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the Board of Immigration Appeals made a mistake “in going beyond the record of conviction” of Kristina Zorba Remon. The panel returned the case to the BIA for further review.

Remon’s lawyer, Tania Galloni of the Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami, said it is an important case because the BIA should go by the facts “instead of basing its decision on a presumption.”

Remon is a Macedonian native and lawful permanent resident of the United States, married to a U.S. citizen, the attorney said.

Her dilemma began, Galloni said, when she was accused of taking the shoes and was offered a plea of no contest — which doesn’t admit guilt — to a Florida charge of general theft. That charge covers both a temporary or permanent taking, Galloni said.

“She had no intent to take them at all,” Galloni said, but it was easier to plead no contest than not guilty and risk a more serious conviction.

“It’s a trick area for people who don’t understand all the consequences,” the attorney said.

In Remon’s case, when she returned to the country after a trip abroad, immigration officials interpreted the general theft conviction to cover permanent taking, which under the law is a crime of moral turpitude. That can lead to deportation.

An immigration judge ordered Remon’s removal from the country, and the BIA affirmed the order.+Galloni said Remon has continued to live in the United States pending the appeal.

Aimee J. Frederickson, who argued the case for the government on behalf of the U.S. attorney general, said she could not comment on the litigation.