FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT June 2, 2020 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court JUAN M. CERVANTES-AGUILAR, Petitioner, v. No. 19-9566 (Petition for Review) WILLIAM P. BARR, United States Attorney General, Respondent. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _________________________________ Before BRISCOE, LUCERO, and HARTZ, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Petitioner Juan M. Cervantes-Aguilar seeks review of a final order of removal. He challenges the holding of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that he is removable because he was convicted of an offense that constitutes a crime of domestic violence under the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA). Exercising jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a), we deny the petition for review. * After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. I. Background Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 2014. In 2017 he pleaded no contest in Utah state court to assault, a Class B misdemeanor, in violation of Utah Code § 76-5-102. Based on that conviction, Petitioner was charged as removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i) for having been convicted of a crime of domestic violence. An immigration judge (IJ) sustained that charge. The BIA agreed with the IJ and dismissed the appeal. II. Discussion Petitioner argues that the BIA erred in holding that his Utah simple-assault conviction under § 76-5-102 is a crime of domestic violence under § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i). We review de novo whether an alien has been convicted of a removable offense. See Bedolla-Zarate v. Sessions, 892 F.3d 1137, 1139 (10th Cir. 2018).1 A. The Categorical Approach Aliens convicted of certain criminal offenses are removable. See 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2). To determine whether an alien’s state conviction constitutes a removable offense, we apply a categorical approach comparing the elements of the 1 Petitioner repeatedly emphasizes that the government has the burden to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that he is removable based upon his conviction for Utah simple assault. But he does not challenge the evidence supporting the fact of his conviction. He argues that it does not constitute a removable offense. Thus, he raises only a legal issue that we review de novo. 2 state statute with the elements of the generic federal offense as defined in the INA. See Bedolla-Zarate, 892 F.3d at 1139-40. Any act criminalized by the state statute must fall within the definition of the removable offense. See id. at 1140. Petitioner was convicted of misdemeanor simple assault in violation of Utah ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals