USCA11 Case: 19-12605 Date Filed: 04/06/2021 Page: 1 of 19 [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 19-12605 ________________________ Agency No. A098-517-544 RUBENS ASPILAIRE, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals _______________________ (April 6, 2021) Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judge, and SELF, * District Judge. WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge: * Honorable Tilman Eugene Self III, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia, sitting by designation. USCA11 Case: 19-12605 Date Filed: 04/06/2021 Page: 2 of 19 This petition for review requires us to decide whether a Florida conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm, Fla. Stat. § 790.23(1)(a), is categorically an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(E)(ii). The Board of Immigration Appeals ordered Rubens Aspilaire removed based on his Florida felon-in-possession conviction. Aspilaire argues that his offense is not categorically an aggravated felony because Florida law defines as “firearms” some weapons that would not be considered firearms for purposes of federal law. Florida’s antique-firearm exception to its definition of a firearm, Fla. Stat. § 790.001(6), does not apply when an antique firearm is used in the commission of an offense, unlike the federal exception. And Florida’s antique- firearm exception does not include all black-powder muzzleloaders, unlike the federal exception. But Aspilaire does not point to his own case or any other prosecution to establish that Florida prosecutes felons for possessing firearms that fall within the federal antique-firearm exception, and Florida’s definition of a firearm is not broader than the federal definition on its face. So we deny his petition for review. I. BACKGROUND Rubens Aspilaire is a native and citizen of Haiti. He entered the United States in 2006 and became a lawful permanent resident in 2007. In 2012, Aspilaire was convicted in Florida of possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed 2 USCA11 Case: 19-12605 Date Filed: 04/06/2021 Page: 3 of 19 firearm. He was sentenced to eight months in the county jail and two years of probation. After Aspilaire was arrested again in 2014 for violating his probation by possessing a firearm, the Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings. Aspilaire explored options to avoid removal by adjusting his immigration status. He was eventually released from custody in the spring of 2015, and the removal proceedings against him were administratively closed. But Aspilaire was arrested again in 2015 and charged by the State of Florida with driving a motor vehicle without a valid license, resisting arrest, possessing 20 grams or less of marijuana, trafficking 28 grams or more of cocaine, being a felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition or a concealed weapon, and possessing heroin. The probable cause affidavit prepared in connection with the arrest specified that Aspilaire possessed a “Springfield Armory . . . 9mm” “semi- automatic handgun.” After a jury trial, he was convicted of “possession of [a] weapon or …
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