Yvette Joyce Wood v. U.S. Attorney General


USCA11 Case: 20-12887 Date Filed: 04/23/2021 Page: 1 of 9 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 20-12887 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A037-330-764 YVETTE JOYCE WOOD, a.k.a. Ivette Joyce Murphy, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (April 23, 2021) Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, JILL PRYOR and LUCK, Circuit Judges. USCA11 Case: 20-12887 Date Filed: 04/23/2021 Page: 2 of 9 PER CURIAM: Yvette Wood, a native and citizen of Jamaica, petitions for review of a decision that affirmed her order of removal. The Board of Immigration Appeals agreed with an immigration judge that Wood was removable as an alien who voted in violation of federal, state, or local law. See 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(6). We deny Wood’s petition. In 1981, Wood was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident based on her marriage to a U.S. citizen. In 1988, Wood was convicted in a New York court for criminal possession of marijuana for having 13 pounds of marijuana in her luggage. See N.Y. Law § 221.15. Wood was found inadmissible as a returning resident, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A), but in 1993 she received a waiver of inadmissibility, id. § 1182(h). In February 1996, Wood registered to vote in Miami-Dade County, Florida. A report of Wood’s voting history recorded that she voted in a primary election on October 1, 1996, in a general election on November 5, 1996, and in a primary election on September 5, 2000. In 2013, the Department of Homeland Security charged Wood as removable as a native and citizen of Jamaica “who . . . voted in violation of any Federal, State, or local constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, or regulation” for voting in three federal elections. Id. § 1227(a)(6)(A). 2 USCA11 Case: 20-12887 Date Filed: 04/23/2021 Page: 3 of 9 Only citizens of the United States enjoy the right to vote in federal elections. U.S. Const. amend. XV, § 1; see Fla. Stat. § 97.041(1)(a)2. Effective September 30, 1996, aliens are forbidden from “vot[ing] in any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for” federal office. 18 U.S.C. § 611(a). In Florida, as of January 1, 1995, a person is required when “[m]aking application for registration as an elector [to] take an oath . . . that I am qualified to register as an elector under the Constitution and laws of the State of Florida, and that I am a citizen of the United States.” Fla. Stat. § 97.051. The application for voter registration “elicit[s] the . . . [s]ignature of applicant under penalty for false swearing . . . by which the person . . . swears or affirms that the information contained in the registration application is true” and “[w]hether the applicant is a citizen of the United States.” Id. § 98.052(2)(q), (s). The application also describes the oath, the eligibility requirements, …

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