Ramon Dominguez v. Merrick Garland


NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MAY 25 2022 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT RAMON GONZALEZ DOMINGUEZ, AKA No. 20-71372 Lil Rams, AKA Rams, Agency No. A043-439-804 Petitioner, v. MEMORANDUM* MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Argued and Submitted May 9, 2022 Pasadena, California Before: WATFORD and FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judges, and ROBRENO,** District Judge. Ramon Gonzalez Dominguez, a native and citizen of Mexico who came to the United States as a lawful permanent resident (“LPR”), petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his appeal of a * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The Honorable Eduardo C. Robreno, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation. decision by the immigration judge ordering him removed to Mexico. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we deny the petition for review. 1. The immigration court did not lack jurisdiction over Dominguez’s removal proceedings. The Notice to Appear (“NTA”) charged Dominguez with removability based on a California conviction for “Assault with a Deadly Weapon, in violation of Section 245(a)(2) of the California Penal Code.” Dominguez was indeed convicted of § 245(a)(2), which criminalizes assault with a firearm. That subsection falls under a broader provision that generally encompasses assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury. Cal. Penal Code § 245. A neighboring subsection punishes assault “with a deadly weapon or instrument other than a firearm.” § 245(a)(1). Dominguez contends that the NTA failed to identify the charges against him because it conflated two provisions of the penal code—assault with a deadly weapon, § 245(a)(1), and assault with a firearm, § 245(a)(2). We disagree. The NTA identified the correct statutory subsection, § 245(a)(2), and the words “Assault with a Deadly Weapon” were merely a more generic description of the offense. See, e.g., Cal. Penal Code § 186.22 (referring to “Assault with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, as defined in Section 245”). The NTA therefore accurately identified the “charges against [Dominguez] and the statutory provisions alleged to have been 2 violated.” 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a)(1)(D).1 2. Dominguez argues that he is not removable because his prior conviction is not categorically a “crime of violence” under 18 U.S.C. § 16(a). But we have previously held that “assault with a firearm under California Penal Code section 245(a)(2) is categorically a ‘crime of violence’ and an ‘aggravated felony’ for immigration purposes.” United States v. Heron-Salinas, 566 F.3d 898, 899 (9th Cir. 2009). We have since reaffirmed and extended that holding to assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm under § 245(a)(1). United States v. Vasquez- Gonzalez, 901 F.3d 1060 (9th Cir. 2018); United States v. Grajeda, 581 F.3d 1186 (9th Cir. …

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