FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS March 16, 2021 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ DANIEL KOFI AWUKU-ASARE, a/k/a Daniel Kofi Awuku Asare, aka Asare, Petitioner, No. 19-9516 v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, United States Attorney General,* Respondent. _________________________________ Petition for Review of an Order from the Board of Immigration Appeals _________________________________ Edgar Chavarria, student attorney (Christopher N. Lasch and Tania N. Valdez on the briefs), Immigration Law & Policy Clinic at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Denver, Colorado, for Petitioner. Christopher A. Bates, Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General (Erik R. Quick, Trial Attorney, Joseph H. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General, Derek C. Julius, Assistant Director, on the brief), United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. _________________________________ Before HOLMES, BACHARACH, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ MORITZ, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ * Pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2), William Barr is replaced as the respondent in this case with Merrick B. Garland, United States Attorney General. Daniel Awuku-Asare appeals the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming his removal order. Awuku-Asare entered the country on a nonimmigrant F-1 visa and could lawfully remain in the United States so long as he complied with the conditions of his visa. Relevant here, maintaining an F-1 visa status requires maintaining a full course of study at an approved educational institution. But Awuku-Asare did not comply with this full-course-of-study requirement because he was incarcerated for approximately 13 months for a crime of which he was ultimately acquitted. Raising an issue of first impression, Awuku-Asare argues that even though he did not comply with the conditions of his visa, he did not fail to maintain his status. Specifically, he argues that “the failure to maintain status must be attributable to the nonimmigrant to render him [removable].” Aplt. Supp. Br. 8. He further contends that because circumstances beyond his control—his incarceration—caused the lapse in his status, he is not removable. Because we determine that the plain meaning of the relevant statute does not support this interpretation, we reject Awuku-Asare’s arguments and affirm the BIA’s decision. Background Awuku-Asare, a native and citizen of Ghana, first entered the United States in 2012 on an F-1 student visa. He attended Saint Leo University in St. Leo, Florida. Later, Awuku-Asare sought out another educational opportunity at Rhema Bible Training College, which accepted him as a transfer student in August 2017. But two 2 weeks after his acceptance, Awuku-Asare was arrested and charged with first-degree rape. Although a jury later acquitted Awuku-Asare, he was incarcerated for about 13 months, from August 2017 to September 2018. As a result of his incarceration, Awuku-Asare was not enrolled in a full course of study. Soon after his acquittal, Awuku-Asare received a Notice to Appear charging him as removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(C)(i) for failing to maintain his F-1 status. In a hearing before the immigration judge (IJ), Awuku-Asare acknowledged that he could …
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