Summary
The Supreme Court held that an alien crewman’s willful remaining in the United States beyond the period authorized by a conditional landing permit under Immigration and Nationality Act § 252(c) is a continuing offense. Venue was therefore proper in any federal district where the crewman willfully remained after the permit expired, including the District of Connecticut.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether an alien crewman's willful remaining in the United States beyond the period authorized by a conditional landing permit under § 252(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act is a continuing offense.
- Whether venue for that offense lies in any federal district where the crewman willfully remained after the permit expired, including the district where he was apprehended.
Holdings
- An alien crewman's willful remaining in the United States beyond the period authorized by his conditional landing permit is a continuing offense that persists until the crewman physically leaves the United States.
- Venue for a § 252(c) prosecution lies in any federal district where the alien willfully remains after the permit expires; Connecticut therefore had venue because Cores entered and was found there.
Key quotations
“Given the element of willfulness, we believe an alien “remains,” in the contemplation of the statute, until he physically leaves the United States.” (409)
“The crime achieves no finality until such time.” (409)
“By holding the crime here to be a continuing one we make a valuable tool of justice available to the crewman.” (410)
Factual background
Cores, an alien crewman, entered the United States at Philadelphia on April 27, 1955, under a conditional landing permit allowing him to remain for 29 days. His permit expired while he was in New York, and he later traveled to Connecticut, where he was apprehended and prosecuted for willfully remaining in the United States beyond the permitted period. The District Court dismissed the prosecution because Cores was not in Connecticut when the permit expired.
Procedural history
Cores entered the United States at Philadelphia and was charged with willfully remaining beyond the expiration of his conditional landing permit. He initially pleaded guilty, but the plea was withdrawn after the Government disclosed that he had not been in Connecticut when the permit expired. The District Court dismissed the case for improper venue, concluding that the offense was not continuing. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded.
Remand instructions
The case was remanded for further proceedings. The Court did not decide the separate issue concerning the inconsistency between the offense date alleged in the information and the date represented by Government counsel; that issue could be asserted on remand.