United States v. Lorenzo Lorenzo-Lucas, 775 F.3d 1008

Lorenzo-Lucas was arrested on Jan 9, 2014 for suspected illegal reentry; the Government obtained his A-file containing a signed Form I-205 warrant of deportation showing removal on May 4, 2005.
A warrant of deportation commands an immigration official to take custody and remove the deportee; a signed warrant indicates the attesting witness observed the deportee leaving the country.
The district court denied Lorenzo-Lucas’s pretrial motion to suppress the warrant and admitted the warrant into evidence over his Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause objection at trial.
The jury convicted Lorenzo-Lucas of illegal reentry under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a); he was sentenced to time served and appealed the evidentiary ruling.
On appeal Lorenzo-Lucas argued the warrant was testimonial under Crawford and Melendez-Diaz, so its admission without live testimony or prior cross-examination violated his confrontation rights.
The Eighth Circuit relied on precedent holding warrants of deportation are non‑testimonial records prepared for administrative purposes, not in anticipation of prosecution, and affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether admission of a Form I-205 warrant of deportation violated the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause	The warrant is testimonial; government needed to produce the attesting witnesses or show prior opportunity for cross‑examination	Warrants are non‑testimonial official records created for administrative purposes, not for use at trial	Admission did not violate the Confrontation Clause; affirming conviction

Torres-Villalobos v. United States, 487 F.3d 607 (8th Cir.) (warrants of deportation are non‑testimonial administrative records)
Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004) (Confrontation Clause prohibits use of testimonial out‑of‑court statements absent prior opportunity for cross‑examination)
Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. 305 (2009) (distinguishing testimonial forensic reports from business/public records; stressing non‑testimonial character of records created for administrative purposes)
United States v. Dale, 614 F.3d 942 (8th Cir.) (standard of review for Confrontation Clause evidentiary rulings)
United States v. Orozco-Acosta, 607 F.3d 1156 (9th Cir.) (warrant of removal is nontestimonial when not made in anticipation of litigation)
United States v. Bahena-Cardenas, 411 F.3d 1067 (9th Cir.) (same conclusion regarding deportation warrants)