United States v. Esteban Zaleta-Sosa

GEE, Circuit Judge:

Today’s case represents mid-range fallout from United States v. Mendoza-Lopez, — U.S. -, 107 S.Ct. 2148, 95 L.Ed.2d 772 (1987), which overruled many years of our Circuit’s precedent that the validity of an underlying deportation order cannot be collaterally challenged in a subsequent prosecution for illegal reentry. See e.g., United States v. De La Cruz Sepulveda, 656 F.2d 1129, 1131 (5th Cir.1981). To our good fortune, two earlier panels of our Court have pioneered somewhat in the impact area, reducing the uncertainties attending that opinion. United States v.…