Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Vartelas v. Holder, holding that Lawful Permanent Residents (“green card” holders) with criminal convictions older than April 1, 1997 cannot be denied re-entry to the United States after travel abroad, based on their old criminal conviction, if their absence abroad was “brief, casual and innocent.” Lawful Permanent Residents who are currently in removal proceedings based on convictions prior to 4/1/1997 can request that their proceedings be terminated; and those who have been found removable based on an old conviction may want to consider filing a motion to reopen or reconsider, based on this change in the law. Such motions must be filed within 30 days of the Court’s March 28, 2012 decision.