United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 16-1571 ___________________________ Luis Gerardo Garcia-Urbano, lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner, v. Jefferson B. Sessions, III, Attorney General of the United States, lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent. ____________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ____________ Submitted: October 18, 2017 Filed: May 17, 2018 ____________ Before COLLOTON, BEAM, and BENTON, Circuit Judges. ____________ COLLOTON, Circuit Judge. Luis Garcia-Urbano, a citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Board upheld the decision of an immigration judge that denied Garcia-Urbano’s application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. Garcia-Urbano contends that the Board erred in treating his conviction for criminal sexual conduct in the third degree under Minn. Stat. § 609.344, subdiv. 1(b) as an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). We conclude that the Board was correct and therefore deny the petition for review. I. Garcia-Urbano was admitted to the United States in April 2014 at the age of seventeen as a lawful permanent resident. At the age of eighteen, he pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.344, subdiv. 1(b), and to fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.487, subdiv. 3. The Department of Homeland Security commenced removal proceedings against Garcia-Urbano, alleging that the two convictions were grounds for removal from the United States. The Department maintained that criminal sexual conduct in the third degree constituted “sexual abuse of a minor,” and that fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle was a “crime of violence.” Each conviction would thus be an “aggravated felony,” see 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(A), (F), and each would serve as an independent ground for removal. See id. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). Garcia-Urbano applied for asylum, but the immigration judge denied the application, and the Board dismissed Garcia-Urbano’s appeal. The Board concluded that Garcia-Urbano was ineligible for asylum because his conviction for criminal sexual conduct was an aggravated felony under the INA. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2)(A)(ii), (B)(i). Because that conviction sufficed to make Garcia-Urbano ineligible, the Board found it unnecessary to address Garcia-Urbano’s conviction for fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle.1 1 Garcia-Urbano also applied for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture. See 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3); 8 C.F.R. §§ 1208.16- -2- II. An alien who “is convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after admission” is both removable and ineligible for asylum. 8 U.S.C. §§ 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), 1158(b)(2)(A)(ii) & (B)(i). “Sexual abuse of a minor,” under either federal or state law, is an aggravated felony. Id. § 1101(a)(43)(A). Therefore, Garcia-Urbano’s conviction in Minnesota for criminal sexual conduct in the third degree is an aggravated felony if it constitutes “sexual abuse of a minor” within the meaning of the INA. To determine whether an offense of conviction is an aggravated felony, we look only to the elements of the criminal statute ...
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