Gonzalez v. Attorney General of the Untied States

In 1997, Congress amended the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") to allow a notice of removal hearing to be served on an alien by regular mail, as opposed to certified mail, return receipt requested. In this case, an Immigration Court sent Petitioner Haidee de Regla Santana Gonzalez ("Petitioner") a notice of hearing by regular mail, which Petitioner claims she never received. The questions presented in her Petition are essentially twofold: (1) what presumption of receipt attaches to a notice of hearing sent by regular mail; and (2) how an alien claiming non-receipt of a notice sent by regular mail can rebut that presumption, thereby entitling her to an evidentiary hearing on that claim. We will grant her Petition.