United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 19-1285 ___________________________ Jose Socorro Ortiz lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner v. William P. Barr, Attorney General of the United States lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent ____________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ____________ Submitted: May 13, 2020 Filed: June 23, 2020 ____________ Before SMITH, Chief Judge, MELLOY and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. ____________ SHEPHERD, Circuit Judge. Jose Ortiz petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming an immigration judge’s (IJ) decision finding him removable under § 237(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i), for having been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. Having jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, we grant the petition for review and vacate the order of removal. I. Ortiz, a native and citizen of Mexico, became a lawfully-admitted permanent resident of the United States in 2002. In 2006, Ortiz pled guilty to obstruction of legal process, arrest, or firefighting (hereinafter, obstruction of legal process), in violation of Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.50, subdiv. 2(2). He was sentenced to one year in a prison, with a two-year stay on 320 days of the sentence, and a fine of $50. On November 27, 2013, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiated removal proceedings against Ortiz, charging him as removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) for having been “convicted of an aggravated felony” based on his prior conviction for obstruction of legal process. DHS later filed an additional charge against Ortiz, alleging that his prior conviction for obstruction of legal process also subjected him to removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i) for having been “convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.” Ortiz moved to terminate removal proceedings, arguing that a conviction under Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.50, subdiv. 2(2) is not an aggravated felony. The IJ denied the motion, finding that Ortiz’s prior conviction was categorically a “crime of violence” and, thus, an aggravated felony. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(F) (“The term ‘aggravated felony’ means . . . a crime of violence[.]”). Accordingly, the IJ ordered Ortiz’s removal from the United States to Mexico. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision. Ortiz filed a petition for review. This Court determined that a conviction under Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.50, subdiv. 2(2) is not categorically a crime of violence—and, thus, not an aggravated felony—because the minimum amount of force required to -2- sustain a conviction under that statute is less than the level of force required to constitute a crime of violence under Johnson v. United States, 559 U.S. 133, 140 (2010). Ortiz v. Lynch, 796 F.3d 932, 935-36 (8th Cir. 2015). Accordingly, we granted Ortiz’s petition for review, vacated the order of removal, and remanded to the BIA to decide whether Ortiz’s prior conviction nonetheless subjected him to removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i) as a crime involving moral turpitude. Id. at 938. Pursuant to the parties’ joint motion, the BIA remanded the case to the IJ to decide the ...
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