## Facts

- Oscar Ramos Quezada, an undocumented noncitizen, was deported on April 25, 1982, pursuant to an INS warrant of deportation (Form I-205).
- On November 17, 1983, a Border Patrol officer arrested Quezada at the El Paso County Jail while he was held on a public intoxication charge.
- The government indicted Quezada under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 for illegal reentry after deportation.
- At a bench trial in the Western District of Texas, the government relied primarily on records from Quezada’s immigration A-file, introduced through Border Patrol Agent David Meshirer, the designated custodian of the file.
- The key exhibits were (1) Form I-205, showing a recorded deportation date, an immigration officer’s signature as witness, and Quezada’s thumbprint; and (2) Form I-294, a written warning (in Quezada’s language) describing penalties for illegal reentry.
- Quezada objected to admission of the forms, arguing hearsay and insufficient proof of the statutory requirement that he had been “arrested and deported.”
- The district court found Quezada guilty and imposed a two-year sentence, suspending all but six months in favor of supervised probation.
- On appeal, Quezada challenged the admissibility and sufficiency of the government’s evidence on the “arrested and deported” element of § 1326.

## Issues

1. Whether INS deportation records, including Form I-205, were admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence as public records despite hearsay objections and a sponsoring witness without personal knowledge of the deportation event.
2. Whether the admitted records and custodian testimony were sufficient to prove that Quezada had previously been “arrested and deported” as required for conviction under 8 U.S.C. § 1326.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the conviction.
- The court held that the warrant of deportation and related INS records were admissible under the public-records hearsay exception because they were created in a routine, non-adversarial administrative process and reflected objective, ministerial observations.
- The court held that Form I-205, including the thumbprint and recorded deportation information, together with Agent Meshirer’s testimony explaining INS procedures and recordkeeping, sufficiently proved the prior “arrest and deportation” element of § 1326.
- The court rejected the argument that the government was required to call the specific deporting officer to establish the prior immigration arrest and deportation.

## Legal Principles

- Government records prepared and maintained in a routine administrative setting, reflecting objective matters recorded as part of regular duties, may be admitted as public records under the hearsay exceptions in the Federal Rules of Evidence.
- A custodian or qualified witness may authenticate and explain INS records and practices even if the witness lacks personal knowledge of the recorded event, where the testimony establishes what the documents are and how they are kept and used.
- In a prosecution under 8 U.S.C. § 1326, the government may prove the prior “arrest and deportation” element through properly admitted INS file documents (including a warrant of deportation bearing identifying markers such as a thumbprint) plus explanatory testimony regarding the meaning and creation of those records.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit upheld Quezada’s § 1326 conviction, ruling that the INS warrant of deportation and related A-file documents were admissible as public records and, when explained by the file custodian, provided sufficient evidence that Quezada had previously been arrested by immigration authorities and deported.


United States v. Quezada, 754 F.2d 1190 (5th Cir. 1985)