Jose Ramirez v. Jefferson Sessions III
Opinion
*698
Jose Ramirez seeks review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) finding him ineligible for special rule cancellation of removal under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA). Specifically, the question is whether Ramirez's convictions for obstruction of justice pursuant to
I.
Jose Ramirez, a citizen of El Salvador, first entered the United States in 1996 when he was seventeen years old. Nearly twenty years later, Ramirez was placed in removal proceedings and charged with being present in the United States without being admitted or paroled under
Ramirez then applied for special rule cancellation of removal under section 203 of NACARA, Pub. L. No. 105-100,
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) moved to pretermit Ramirez's application for relief under NACARA, arguing that his prior convictions triggered the ten-year requirement. In 2012, Ramirez was convicted of one count of petit larceny under
The Immigration Judge (IJ) concluded that obstruction of justice under
In a brief single-member decision, the BIA agreed that obstruction under § 18.2-460(A) was a CIMT and affirmed. A.R. 3-4. In response, Ramirez filed a motion for a stay of removal with this Court. This Court denied the motion, and Ramirez was removed to El Salvador.
Ramirez filed a timely petition for review with this Court. In his petition, Ramirez argues that the BIA erred in finding that obstruction of justice under
II.
Before assessing the merits of Ramirez's claims, "[w]e first consider whether we have jurisdiction" over his petition for review.
Etienne v. Lynch
,
*700
"A court may review a final order of removal against an alien only if 'the alien has exhausted all administrative remedies available to the alien as of right.' "
Etienne
,
However, § 1252 only prohibits "the consideration of bases for relief that were not raised below, and of general issues that were not raised below, but not of specific, subsidiary legal arguments, or arguments by extension, that were not made below."
Gill v.INS
,
The Government does not dispute that Ramirez argued below that obstruction of justice under Virginia law is not a CIMT. A.R. 31. Instead, the Government argues that administrative exhaustion bars Ramirez's appellate counsel from making more specific and nuanced points to demonstrate how and why obstruction is not a CIMT. In particular, the Government takes issue with appellate counsel citing certain cases for the first time on appeal in order to elaborate on the breadth of the Virginia statute. The Government has not provided any basis for applying the exhaustion requirement at this level of granularity.
3
Indeed, such an approach would strip appellate counsel's ability to bolster existing arguments-and limit the universe of available case law and precedent to those already cited below.
Cf.
Massis v. Mukasey
,
We therefore conclude that Ramirez satisfied the exhaustion requirement under § 1252(d)(1) when he argued below that obstruction of justice is not a CIMT. Accordingly, we have jurisdiction over this question of law.
III.
We now turn to the merits of Ramirez's argument. The dispositive issue is whether obstruction of justice under
If any person ... knowingly obstructs ... any law-enforcement officer ... in the performance of his duties as such or fails or refuses without just cause to cease such obstruction when requested to do so by such ... law-enforcement officer ... shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
In a two-page, non-precedential, one-member decision, the BIA concluded that obstruction under § 18.2-460(A) is a CIMT. In reaching that conclusion, the BIA invoked its precedential decision in
Matter of Jurado-Delgado
,
For the reasons below, we conclude that Matter of Jurado-Delgado is inapposite and that the BIA decision in this case is not entitled to any deference. We then address de novo whether obstruction under Virginia law is a CIMT and ultimately conclude that it is not.
A.
We first consider what deference, if any, this Court owes to the BIA's legal conclusions in this case. Under the well-known
Chevron
doctrine, an agency's interpretation of the statute(s) that it administers is entitled to deferential review if the agency exercises delegated authority to "make rules carrying the force of law."
United States v. Mead Corp.
,
The BIA's legal conclusion here-that a conviction under state law is categorically a CIMT-involves two interpretative questions, one about the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and one about a state criminal statute.
See
Prudencio v. Holder
,
The first interpretative question is what the term "moral turpitude" means in the INA. Because the term "moral turpitude" is ambiguous, we would defer, under
Chevron
, to the agency's reasonable construction of the term and definition of the types of conduct it encompasses.
Mohamed v. Holder
,
The second interpretative question is whether the state statute of conviction necessarily involved the type of conduct defined to be morally turpitudinous. On this question of state law, we do not owe any deference to the BIA.
See
Soliman
,
However, regardless of the nature of the interpretative question, non-precedential opinions by the BIA are categorically ineligible for
Chevron
review because they do not carry the force of law.
Martinez v. Holder
,
But, because the BIA determination here relied on
Matter of Jurado-Delgado
,
In relation to those cases, the BIA's one-member decision in this case attempts to significantly expand the definition of a CIMT by removing deceit, a critical indicator of moral turpitude, from the equation. Since this non-precedential decision departs from, rather than relies on, precedential BIA decisions, it is not eligible for Chevron review.
In the absence of
Chevron
deference, the weight given to a BIA decision "hinges on 'the thoroughness evident in [the BIA's] consideration, the validity of its reasoning, its consistency with earlier and later pronouncements, and all those factors which give it power to persuade.' "
Zavaleta-Policiano v. Sessions
,
In sum, under Chevron , BIA decisions defining morally turpitudinous conduct are controlling if they are precedential and reasonable. However, the BIA's interpretations of laws that it does not administer, such as the Virginia obstruction of justice statute, and its non-precedential decisions are only given weight to the extent that this Court finds the reasoning persuasive. Here, because we do not find persuasive the BIA's abbreviated and non-precedential opinion, we do not accord it any deference.
B.
We now determine
de novo
whether Ramirez's conviction under
*704
Moncrieffe v. Holder
,
The BIA defines the term "moral turpitude" as behavior "that shocks the public conscience as being inherently base, vile, or depraved."
7
Mohamed
,
With that definition of moral turpitude in mind, we turn to the elements of § 18.2-460(A).
See
Uribe
,
However, § 18.2-460(A) does not require morally reprehensible conduct. As the BIA's rationale in
Matter of Jurado-Delgado
suggests, an act of obstruction, standing alone, does not categorically involve moral turpitude.
See
24 I. & N. Dec. at 33-35. In other words, there must be some other aggravating element that pushes a mere violation of the law into the territory of moral depravity. Unlike the statute the BIA considered in
Matter of Jurado-Delgado
, § 18.2-460(A) does not require the use of fraud or deceit. Indeed, in Virginia, obstruction via deception is punished under a different subsection.
See
Virginia case law makes clear that § 18.2-460(A) prohibits a wide-range of actions (and inactions) that do not categorically involve moral depravity. According to the Court of Appeals of Virginia, one need not take any action at all to be convicted of obstruction.
Thorne
,
The Government has not shown how such misconduct categorically violates a moral norm. Instead, the Government merely reiterates the BIA's non-precedential and unsupported position that any "intent to obstruct, impair, or pervert the lawful operations of government" necessarily involves morally turpitude.
8
Resp. Br. at 29-30. However, morality does not forbid civil disobedience.
See
United States v. Moylan
,
Because § 18.2-460(A) prohibits conduct that does not necessarily involve moral turpitude, it sweeps more broadly than the INA's definition of a CIMT, and Ramirez's convictions thereunder do not qualify as CIMTs.
9
We therefore hold that
*706
obstruction under
* * *
Because obstruction of justice under § 18.2-460(A) is not a CIMT, Ramirez's only CIMT conviction is his conviction for petit larceny. The parties agree that petty larceny qualifies for the "petty offense" exception under
IV.
Ramirez also petitions this Court to order the Government to facilitate his return to the United States for the completion of his removal proceedings, including his application for relief under NACARA. Under an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy directive, "[a]bsent extraordinary circumstances, if an alien who prevails before the U.S. Supreme Court or a U.S. court of appeals was removed while his or her [petition for review] was pending, ICE will facilitate the alien's return to the United States if either the court's decision restores the alien to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, or the alien's presence is necessary for continued administrative removal proceedings." U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Policy Directive Number 11061.1, Facilitating the Return to the United States of Certain Lawfully Removed Aliens (Feb. 24, 2012) (saved as ECF opinion attachment 1). Among other circumstances, an alien's presence is necessary when a court orders his or her presence. 10 Contrary to the Government's position, we conclude in this case that Ramirez's presence is necessary to effectuate judicial review and to restore him to the status he had before his removal, such that he may apply for relief under NACARA under the correct standard. We therefore direct the Government to facilitate Ramirez's return, pursuant to Directive 11061.1, for that limited purpose. 11
We note that our order does not confer on Ramirez any immigration benefits beyond enabling him to apply for special rule cancellation of removal and, if so granted by the IJ or the BIA, eventual adjustment of status, notwithstanding his erroneous removal from this country. In other words, the agency retains the authority to lawfully deny him relief on other grounds. As
*707
our sister circuits have done in similar circumstances, we grant this relief because judicial review would otherwise be frustrated if Ramirez cannot be restored to the status he had before his removal.
See
Orabi v. Att'y Gen. of U.S.
,
V.
The BIA erred as a matter of law when it concluded that obstruction of justice under
PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED, ORDER OF REMOVAL VACATED, AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS
When an alien incurs a new ground for inadmissibility or removability, the clock for establishing a period of continuous presence restarts for purposes of NACARA eligibility. See Matter of Castro-Lopez , 26 I & N Dec. at 693. Here, if Ramirez's convictions were in fact CIMTs, then his clock would have restarted in 2012, and he would not have accrued ten years by the time of his petition.
The parties agreed that petit larceny otherwise fell within the so-called ''petty offense'' exception, which exempts certain minor CIMTs from being considered as the ground for inadmissibility. A.R. 48. The exception applies only if three criteria are satisfied: the alien has been convicted of no more than one CIMT, the offense is punishable with a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year, and the alien was sentenced to a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months.
The cases cited by the Government are clearly distinguishable.
See
Gonzales v. Thomas
,
The Attorney General has delegated his discretion and authority in interpreting the INA to the BIA, which "shall exercise [its] independent judgment and discretion in considering and determining the cases coming before the board."
Our sister circuits have similarly construed
Matter of Jurado-Delgado
and related decisions addressing obstruction, perjury, and false statements.
See
Ildefonso-Candelario v. Att'y Gen. of the U.S.,
In a "narrow range of cases," a criminal statute may consist of "multiple, alternative versions" of a crime, only a subset of which qualify as a CIMT.
See
Descamps,
As previously discussed, we afford
Chevron
deference to the BIA's reasonable interpretation of the term "crime involving moral turpitude," used in the INA.
See
Mohamed
,
The Government cites no relevant authority for this proposition. The Government claims that two cases from our sister circuits have held that obstruction is a CIMT but neglects to mention that both cases concerned statutes that have deception as an element.
See
Rodriguez v. Gonzales
,
As noted previously, this ends our inquiry because this case does not fall into the "narrow range of cases" in which we apply the modified categorical approach to examine the record of conviction.
See
Descamps
, 570 U.S. at 262-63,
See U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Facilitating Return for Lawfully Removed Aliens (saved as ECF opinion attachment 2) ("ICE will facilitate your return to the United States if your presence is necessary for continued adjudication of your case. This may be because the court of appeals specifically ordered your presence, or because the nature of the court's order requires you to return for further testimony.").
Under the Directive, "facilitating an alien's return" entails enabling an alien to "engage in activities which allow a lawfully removed alien to travel to the United States (such as by issuing a Boarding Letter to permit commercial air travel) and, if warranted, parole the alien into the United States upon his or her arrival at a U.S. port of entry." U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Policy Directive Number 11061.1. This "does not necessarily include funding the alien's travel via commercial carrier to the United States or making flight arrangements for the alien."
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jose Luis RAMIREZ, Petitioner, v. Jefferson B. SESSIONS III, Attorney General, Respondent.
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- 39 cases
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