Case: 17-10801 Date Filed: 02/26/2019 Page: 1 of 10 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 17-10801 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A070-449-510 ALBAN LUKAJ, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (February 26, 2019) Before MARCUS, WILLIAM PRYOR and ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 17-10801 Date Filed: 02/26/2019 Page: 2 of 10 Alban Lukaj, a native and citizen of Albania who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States, petitions for review of an order affirming the denial of his applications for asylum, 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2)(A)(ii), (b)(2)(B)(i), for withholding of removal, id. § 1231(b)(3)(B)(ii), and for cancellation of removal, id. § 1229b(a). Lukaj challenges the finding that his conviction for aggravated battery with a firearm, Fla. Stat. §§ 784.045(1), 775.087(2), qualifies as an aggravated felony, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(F), under the residual cause of the definition of crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. § 16(b), that renders him ineligible for relief from removal. After Lukaj filed his petition, we stayed briefing until the Supreme Court decided Sessions v. Dimaya, 138 S. Ct. 1204 (2018). We grant in part Lukaj’s petition challenging the denial of his applications for relief for removal and remand to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Lukaj also petitioned us to review the denial of his motion to recuse the immigration judge, but we dismiss that part of his petition for lack of jurisdiction. I. BACKGROUND In 2015, the Department of Homeland Security charged Lukaj, a refugee who became a lawful permanent resident in 1993, as removable. The notice to appear charged Lukaj for violating a law relating to a controlled substance, 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i); committing an aggravated felony consisting of an offense relating to the illicit trafficking in a controlled substance, id. 2 Case: 17-10801 Date Filed: 02/26/2019 Page: 3 of 10 § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii); violating a law regarding possessing a firearm, id. § 1227(a)(2)(C); and committing an aggravated felony constituting a crime of violence, id. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). The Department based its charges on Lukaj’s pleas of guilty in 2009 to conspiring to traffic and for trafficking more than 400 grams of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, Fla. Stat. § 893.135(1)(k), (5), that resulted in a sentence of four years of imprisonment and on his plea of guilty in 2010 to aggravated battery, id. § 784.045(1), for which he received an enhanced sentence of ten years of imprisonment based on his use of a firearm during the crime, id. § 775.087(2). An immigration judge found that Lukaj was removable based on his prior convictions for aggravated battery and for possessing a firearm. See id. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), (a)(2)(C). The immigration judge granted Lukaj leave to file an application for relief from removal. Lukaj moved the immigration judge to reconsider and to dismiss the charge of removability based on his conviction for aggravated battery. Lukaj argued that the residual clause of the statute, 18 U.S.C. § 16(b), was ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals