Gustavo Monteon-Camargo v. William Barr, U. S. Att
Gustavo Monteon-Camargo v. William Barr, U. S. Att
Opinion
Gustavo Monteon-Camargo, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of a final order of removal by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA" or "Board"). The BIA determined that Monteon-Camargo was ineligible for cancellation of removal because his 2007 conviction of attempted theft from a person under Texas law counts as a crime involving moral turpitude ("CIMT") under a 2016 BIA decision. We grant the petition and reverse and remand because that retroactive application was error.
I.
Monteon-Camargo first entered the United States in 1998 on a non-immigrant visa but was arrested and administratively returned to Mexico in 2004. He reentered on an unknown date and was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") in 2010. DHS served him with a Notice to Appear, charging him with inadmissibility as an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled, in violation of
During removal proceedings, Monteon-Camargo submitted an "Application for Cancellation of Removal and Adjustment of Status for Certain Non-permanent Residents." DHS submitted a judgment showing that in 2007, Monteon-Camargo had pleaded guilty of attempted theft from a person in violation of Texas Penal Code § 31.03. 1 Deciding that that offense was a CIMT and that Monteon-Camargo thus had failed to establish one of the prerequisites for eligibility for cancellation of removal-that his conviction was not a CIMT-the immigration judge ("IJ")
*427 found Monteon-Camargo removable as charged. 2
Monteon-Camargo appealed to the BIA, contending that the IJ erred in failing to apply the modified categorical approach to determine whether the attempted-theft conviction was a CIMT. He asked the BIA to remand to allow him to supplement the record with his conviction records so he could show that his conviction was not a CIMT. 3
The BIA dismissed the appeal. It agreed with the IJ that attempted theft from a person under § 31.03 is categorically a CIMT and that Monteon-Camargo was therefore statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal. The Board based its decision on
In re Diaz-Lizarraga
,
While his petition for review to this court was pending, Monteon-Camargo moved the Board to reopen and reconsider its decision dismissing his original appeal of the IJ's decision. The BIA denied that motion, whereupon Monteon-Camargo filed a second petition for review in this court. We consolidated the two petitions, and the parties filed supplemental briefing.
After that, several of our sister circuits held that the Board may not retroactively apply Diaz-Lizarraga 's definition of CIMTs to predicate offenses committed before that decision. 5 Monteon-Camargo and the government have submitted several supplemental letters addressing those cases.
II.
We review the BIA's rulings of
*428
law
de novo
, "giv[ing]
Chevron
deference
[
6
]
to the BIA's interpretation of the term 'moral turpitude' and its guidance on the general categories of offenses which constitute CIMTs."
Laryea v. Sessions
,
An alien is eligible for cancellation of removal if, among other things, he "has not been convicted of an offense under section 1182(a)(2)"
7
-that is, "a [CIMT]."
Congress did not define "moral turpitude" in the Immigration and Nationality Act but "left the interpretation of this provision to the BIA and interpretation of its application to state and federal laws to the federal courts."
Rodriguez-Castro v. Gonzales
,
Historically, the BIA has held that a theft offense is categorically a CIMT only if it was "committed with the intent to
permanently
deprive an owner of property."
8
But the BIA altered its position in 2016. In
Diaz-Lizarraga
, a formal adjudication, the BIA opined that "lawmakers and judges across the country have come to recognize that many temporary takings are as culpable as permanent ones."
Diaz-Lizarraga
,
The BIA applied that new standard to classify Monteon-Camargo's conviction as a CIMT. Monteon-Camargo contends that the BIA's retroactive application of Diaz-Lizarraga violates due process. But before we reach the merits of that argument, we must decide two threshold questions: whether he waived the issue and whether we have jurisdiction.
A.
"Generally speaking, a [party] waives an issue if he fails to adequately brief it."
United States v. Martinez
,
Monteon-Camargo first contended that the BIA erred in retroactively applying *429 Diaz-Lizarraga in his supplemental brief, devoting just over a page to the theory and citing no authorities. But both parties have filed supplemental letters addressing the issue and providing authorities.
Despite the sparse briefing, we exercise our discretion to consider Monteon-Camargo's retroactivity claim. Three of our sister circuits have held that the BIA's revised CIMT definition may not be retroactively applied to predicate offenses committed before Diaz-Lizarraga was issued. 9 We are also satisfied that the parties have adequately presented their positions in the supplemental letters, making it appropriate to decide the issue.
B.
The government contends that we do not have jurisdiction to decide Monteon-Camargo's retroactivity claim, averring that judicial review is unavailable under § 1252(d)(1) because Monteon-Camargo did not present that claim to the BIA.
10
"Judicial review of a final removal order is only available if 'the alien has exhausted all administrative remedies available to the alien as of right.' "
Vazquez v. Sessions
,
Due process claims, however, are generally exempt from the exhaustion doctrine because they are not within the purview of the BIA.
Anwar v. INS
,
Monteon-Camargo raises a due process challenge to the BIA's decision,
*430
contending that
Diaz-Lizarraga
cannot apply retroactively because of "the due process interests of fair notice." The government counters that retroactivity claims are not
per se
constitutional due process claims that the BIA is unable to correct. And Monteon-Camargo, the government suggests, is alleging "procedural error,"
Falek v. Gonzales
,
But unlike in
Falek
,
C.
That takes us to the merits. "[T]he leading case on administrative retroactivity" instructs that any disadvantages from the " 'retroactive effect[s]' " of deciding a " 'case of first impression ... must be balanced against the mischief of producing a result which is contrary to a statutory design or to legal and equitable principles.' "
Microcomputer Tech. Inst. v. Riley
,
Because the retroactivity issue was first raised in the supplemental briefing, the various briefs say little about the disadvantages of retroactivity versus prospectivity. There are, however, some obvious disadvantages. Criminal defendants may have pleaded guilty of crimes that they rightly thought, based on the Board's prior position, did not constitute CIMTs. Accordingly, they may have entered pleas believing that they would not suffer adverse immigration consequences as a result. Retroactively applying
Diaz-Lizarraga
thus would compromise the "familiar [due process] considerations of fair notice,
*431
reasonable reliance, and settled expectations."
Landgraf v. USI FilmProds.
,
The change in the Board's guidance, moreover, was significant: It added an entirely new category of theft offenses to those considered CIMTs. In
Diaz-Lizarraga
, the Board recognized that it was drastically changing the landscape, observing that it was "updat[ing]" what had been its position "[f]rom [its] earliest days."
Diaz-Lizarraga
,
Though there are multiple disadvantages to applying it retroactively, the government has not identified a single disadvantage of applying Diaz-Lizarraga only prospectively. We conclude that the definition of CIMTs announced in Diaz-Lizarraga may be applied only to crimes committed after that decision issued. The BIA erred in applying its new definition to Monteon-Camargo's conviction of attempted theft.
The petition for review is GRANTED. The order is REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings. 13
Texas Penal Code § 31.03(a) -(b) provides as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if he unlawfully appropriates property with intent to deprive the owner of property.
(b) Appropriation of property is unlawful if:
(1) it is without the owner's effective consent;
(2) the property is stolen and the actor appropriates the property knowing it was stolen by another; or
(3) property in the custody of any law enforcement agency was explicitly represented by any law enforcement agent to the actor as being stolen and the actor appropriates the property believing it was stolen by another.
The IJ also denied Monteon-Camargo's request for a continuance to apply for other forms of relief, explaining that a continuance would be futile because Monteon-Camargo was statutorily ineligible for adjustment of status and could not cure his ineligibility with a waiver. The IJ further declined to continue proceedings to allow Monteon-Camargo to apply for withholding of removal because Monteon-Camargo had not shown the requisite good cause. The IJ noted that proceedings had been ongoing for approximately two years, yet Monteon-Camargo had not sought a withholding of removal until other forms of relief were foreclosed.
Monteon-Camargo also challenged the IJ's denial of a continuance, explaining that he had not "proceeded on his application for withholding of removal" because he believed he had a strong case for cancellation of removal. He further averred that he needed a continuance to file for asylum under the United Nations Convention Against Torture.
Regarding the request for a continuance, the BIA observed that Monteon-Camargo had received multiple continuances over the past two years, had "designated Mexico as the country of removal" and expressed no fear of returning there, "ha[d] not proffered an application [for asylum] on appeal," and had "established [neither] prima facie eligibility for [asylum nor prejudice]."
Garcia-Martinez v. Sessions
,
See
Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Nat. Res. Def. Council
,
8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(C).
Diaz-Lizarraga
,
Garcia-Martinez v. Sessions
,
The government's only response to Monteon-Camargo's retroactivity claim has been that this court lacks jurisdiction. The government posits that Monteon-Camargo "did not present that argument to the agency and this Court lacks jurisdiction to review that argument in the first instance" under
Compare
Lopez De Jesus
,
Other circuits, by contrast, apply "variously articulated factors," usually "the five factors articulated in
Retail, Wholesale & Dep't Store Union v. NLRB
,
We DENY, as moot, Monteon-Camargo's petition for review of the BIA's denial of his motion to reopen and reconsider.
See
Arce-Vences v. Mukasey
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Gustavo MONTEON-CAMARGO, Also Known as Ulysius Montillon-Camargo, Also Known as Gustavo Monteon-Camargo, Petitioner, v. William P. BARR, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent.
- Cited By
- 42 cases
- Status
- Published