US : appeals court dismisses a drug trafficker The deportation challenge of Sandeep Singh

 US : appeals court has denied convicted narcotics trafficker Sandeep Singh’s request to be removed from the country.

On January 9, Singh’s appeal was rejected by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The court determined that the case’s conclusion was unaffected by the claimed procedural irregularities made by immigration officials.

Singh has contested a Department of Homeland Security final administrative removal order. He said that throughout the procedure, the agency broke immigration laws.

The court didn’t agree. Judges said that unless mistakes result in prejudice, agency rulings cannot be reversed. The court ruled that Singh did not fulfill that requirement.

Singh has an Indian passport and is a permanent resident of Canada. In November 2021, he used a visitor’s visa to enter the United States from Canada.

Singh entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine in April 2024. He was given a 60-month jail term by a federal court in Michigan.

Immigration officials started accelerated removal procedures after the conviction. Singh’s conviction for an extreme offense led to charges of detainment.

Singh protested. He claimed that an immigration court should hear his case rather than making an administrative decision. In addition, he requested to be sent to Canada rather than India.

He also asked that just a detainer be issued by the authorities. He claimed that this would enable him to utilize time credits for early release under the First Step Act.

Those petitions were denied by the department.

In December 2024, it issued a final removal order. India was originally indicated as the destination on the order. Later, the department changed the name to Canada.

Singh did not contest his conviction for drug use. The court declared that he is definitively removed and ineligible for discretionary relief as a result of that conviction.

Noncitizens convicted of serious offenses are subject to expedited removal processes under US immigration law, which restrict court review and prohibit the majority of discretionary remedy. Procedural flaws alone are not enough to overturn such decisions, according to several rulings by federal courts, unless the person can demonstrate that the errors altered the case’s result.