Maria Reimers v. Uscis


NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUN 2 2023 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT MARIA ELENA REIMERS, USCIS A# 097 No. 22-35248 107 629, D.C. No. 2:20-cv-00459-RMP Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MEMORANDUM* UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES; et al., Defendants-Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington Rosanna Malouf Peterson, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted April 12, 2023 Seattle, Washington Before: McKEOWN, BYBEE, and DESAI, Circuit Judges. Maria Reimers, a lawful permanent resident, appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), several of its employees, and the U.S. Attorney General (collectively, “Defendants”) in Ms. Reimers’s action under 8 U.S.C. § 1421(c) challenging * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. USCIS’s denial of her application for naturalization. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and review de novo the district court’s grant of summary judgment. See Park v. Barr, 946 F.3d 1096, 1097 (9th Cir. 2020). We affirm. 1. Ms. Reimers first challenges the district court’s holding that she is ineligible for naturalization. To qualify for naturalization, an applicant must establish that “during the five years immediately preceding the date of filing [the] application,” she “has been and still is a person of good moral character.” 8 U.S.C. § 1427(a). But an applicant is precluded from establishing good moral character if she violated the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”). 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(f)(3), 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II); 8 C.F.R. § 316.10(b)(2)(iv). A violation of the CSA is “a per se bar to naturalization.” Hussein v. Barrett, 820 F.3d 1083, 1088 (9th Cir. 2016). Ms. Reimers admitted to operating a marijuana business. Even though Ms. Reimers’s business is licensed under Washington law, it nevertheless constitutes a violation of the CSA. See 21 U.S.C. § 812, Schedule I(c)(10) (designating marijuana as a controlled substance). And, even though Ms. Reimers may otherwise be eligible to naturalize, her operation of a licensed marijuana business categorically precludes her from qualifying for naturalization. We therefore affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment.1 1 Ms. Reimers also argues that the district court erred by granting summary judgment because she was entitled to a full evidentiary hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 2 22-35248 2. Ms. Reimers also challenges the constitutionality of the “good moral character” statutory bar. Her Commerce Clause, Supremacy Clause, and Tenth Amendment arguments are foreclosed by Supreme Court precedent. In Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005), the Supreme Court held that the CSA’s criminalization of purely intrastate manufacture, distribution, or possession of marijuana was a proper exercise of Congress’ Commerce Clause authority. Id. at 25–26. And Gonzales held that the CSA preempts state marijuana laws. Id. at 29. The Court has also held that when Congress acts under one of its enumerated powers, there is no Tenth Amendment violation. New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144, 156–57 …

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