In a significant rebuke to immigration authorities, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has cleared the way for a 70-year-old US Navy veteran from Jamaica to challenge a deportation order that stood for nearly two decades.
The court ruled in Ramsay v. Bondi on March 27, 2026, that the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) misread the law when it blocked John Marcus Ramsay’s efforts to reopen his case.
Ramsay, a lawful permanent resident since 1971, was deported to Jamaica in 2007 following a 1996 conviction for the attempted sale of a “narcotic drug” under New York law. After eighteen years in exile, Ramsay was granted parole to reenter the U.S. in 2025 specifically because of his veteran status.
The legal landscape shifted dramatically while Ramsay was abroad. In September 2023, the Second Circuit ruled in United States v. Minter that the New York statute used to deport Ramsay was “categorically overbroad” compared to federal law.
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This meant the state definition of a narcotic included substances not covered by federal drug laws, effectively nullifying the original legal basis for his removal.
Ramsay filed a motion to reopen his case within 30 days of that ruling. However, the BIA rejected it, claiming he hadn’t shown “due diligence.” The BIA argued Ramsay should have filed his challenge years earlier following a 2017 case, Harbin v. Sessions.
The Second Circuit disagreed, finding the BIA’s logic flawed. The judges noted that the BIA “misunderstood and mischaracterized” Ramsay’s legal arguments. While the 2017 case touched on similar issues, the court clarified that it wasn’t until the 2023 Minter decision that Ramsay actually had a winning hand.
“Petitioners whose claims for relief are barred by law have no rights to pursue until the law changes to entitle them to relief,” the court stated, citing recent precedent. The judges further noted that Ramsay “had no basis to know or suspect that he had any rights to pursue” until the Minter decision was handed down.
The court vacated the BIA’s original denial and granted a stay of removal, ensuring Ramsay can remain in the country while his case is reconsidered. The matter now returns to the BIA to determine if Ramsay is entitled to “equitable tolling”—a legal rule that allows late filings when extraordinary circumstances exist.
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