Matter of Lozada
Board of Immigration Appeals
19 I. & N. Dec 637, aff'd 857 F.2d 10 (1st Cir. 1988)
Lozada (petitioner), a lawful permanent resident found deportable for a criminal conviction, was denied relief under former § 212(c) and voluntary departure by an immigration judge; the Board summarily dismissed his appeal because his counsel had inadequately specified the appeal's grounds and never filed a promised brief. While his petition for review was pending, Lozada moved the Board to reopen his removal proceeding, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel.
Whether ineffective assistance of counsel in a deportation proceeding is only a denial of due process if the proceeding was so fundamentally unfair that the alien was prevented from reasonably presenting his case.