WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. appeals court has rejected a legal challenge by Sandeep Singh, a convicted drug trafficker, seeking to block his removal from the United States, ruling that alleged procedural errors by immigration authorities did not affect the outcome of his case.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied Singh’s petition on January 9, holding that administrative decisions cannot be overturned unless procedural errors cause actual prejudice. Singh failed to meet that standard, the court said.
Singh had challenged a final administrative removal order issued by the Department of Homeland Security, arguing that immigration authorities violated procedural rules during the removal process. The appeals court disagreed, finding that any alleged errors did not change the result.
Singh, an Indian passport holder and permanent resident of Canada, entered the United States from Canada in November 2021 on a visitor visa. In April 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced by a federal court in Michigan to 60 months in prison.
Following the conviction, immigration authorities initiated expedited removal proceedings, charging Singh as removable based on an aggravated felony conviction under U.S. immigration law.
Singh objected to the process, arguing that his case should have been heard by an immigration judge rather than resolved through administrative removal. He also requested that he be deported to Canada instead of India and asked authorities to issue only a detainer, which he said would allow him to apply time credits under the First Step Act for early release.
The Department of Homeland Security rejected those requests and issued a final removal order in December 2024. The order initially designated India as the country of removal but was later amended to name Canada.
Singh did not dispute his drug conviction. Because of that conviction, the court said, he is conclusively removable and barred from discretionary relief.
Under U.S. immigration law, noncitizens convicted of aggravated felonies are subject to fast-track removal procedures that sharply limit judicial review and bar most forms of discretionary relief. Courts have consistently ruled that procedural flaws alone are insufficient to overturn such removal orders unless the individual can show that the errors altered the outcome of the case. (Source: IANS)
