Alicia Fuentes v. William Barr


FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION APR 23 2020 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT ALICIA IVETTE FUENTES, No. 16-73553 Petitioner, Agency No. A079-784-014 v. MEMORANDUM* WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted April 16, 2020** San Francisco, California Before: BERZON and IKUTA, Circuit Judges, and LEMELLE,*** District Judge. Alicia Fuentes petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the decision of an Immigration Judge (IJ) denying her * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The case has been submitted on the briefs as of April 16, 2020, pursuant to FRAP 34(a). *** The Honorable Ivan L.R. Lemelle, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, sitting by designation. claims for cancellation of removal and post-hearing voluntary departure. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. The agency did not err in concluding that Fuentes’s 2015 conviction under section 11377 of the California Health & Safety Code is a conviction for violating a law “relating to a controlled substance” under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) and 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i).1 Section 11377 is divisible, and therefore we apply the modified categorical approach. Coronado v. Holder, 759 F.3d 977, 981, 983 (9th Cir. 2014). Because Count 1 of the criminal complaint charged Fuentes with unlawfully possessing methamphetamine in violation of section 11377 and the court case summary corresponding to the criminal complaint shows that Fuentes pleaded guilty to Count 1 of the criminal complaint, we may consider the facts alleged in the complaint. See United States v. Torre-Jimenez, 771 F.3d 1163, 1168 1 The IJ relied on three of Fuentes’s convictions, including section 11377 of the California Health and Safety Code and sections 484 and 4573 of the California Penal Code, in concluding that Fuentes was not entitled to cancellation of removal or voluntary departure, and the BIA adopted the IJ’s opinion. See Alvarez-Cerriteno v. Sessions, 899 F.3d 774, 778 (9th Cir. 2018) (“Where . . . the BIA adopts the IJ’s decision and adds some of its own analysis, the panel reviews both decisions.”) (citation omitted). Because the conviction under section 11377 supports denial of relief, we do not review the alternative bases relied on by the IJ and BIA. 2 (9th Cir. 2014).2 Accordingly, we conclude that Fuentes was convicted of a possessing methamphetamine, which is prohibited by the Controlled Substances Act. Coronado, 759 F.3d at 986.3 Therefore, Fuentes’s 2015 conviction for violating section 11377 is a removable offense “relating to a controlled substance” under 28 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i) and 28 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II). Contrary to Fuentes’s argument, Coronado correctly concluded that the substances listed in section 11377 were “alternative elements that effectively create several different crimes.” 759 F.3d at 984 (quoting Descamps v. United States, 570 U.S. 254, 263–64 (2013)) (cleaned up), and is therefore ...

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