Segoviano Mendoza v. Gonzales
Segoviano Mendoza v. Gonzales
Concurring in Part
concurring in part, dissenting in part:
I agree with my colleagues that the Board of Immigration Appeals acted properly in affirming the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) finding of removability and denial of application for a discretionary waiver of deportation. I also agree that Petitioner Gustavo Segoviano Mendoza’s challenge to the retroactive application of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act is squarely foreclosed by our precedent.
My disagreement with my colleagues in the majority stems from our different views of Segoviano Mendoza’s due process claims. The majority disposition resolves these claims on the merits. I conclude that we have no jurisdiction to resolve them at all.
Segoviano Mendoza’s due process claims challenge the IJ’s partial reliance on hearsay evidence and the IJ’s asserted failure to consider all the evidence.
It is well established that hearsay is admissible in immigration proceedings. See Rojas-Garcia v. Ashcroft, 339 F.3d 814, 823 (9th Cir. 2003). Because hearsay is admissible in immigration proceedings, the assertion that the IJ violated Segoviano Mendoza’s due process rights by par
A similar conclusion results when one considers Segoviano Mendoza’s claim that the IJ failed to consider all the evidence. As the majority disposition notes, Segoviano Mendoza made absolutely no showing to rebut the presumption or refute the IJ’s express representation that all evidence was reviewed. The absence of any meaningful challenge to the presumption and actuality of the full review performed by the IJ compels the conclusion that no colorable due process claim exists. See Martinez-Rosas v. Gonzales, 424 F.3d 926, 930 (9th Cir. 2005) (“To be colorable ... the claim must have some possible validity.”) (citation omitted).
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissed Gustavo Segoviano Mendoza’s appeal from the order of an immigration judge (“IJ”), affirming the IJ’s finding of removability and denial of his application for a discretionary waiver of deportation under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(c) (repealed 1996),
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a). Although § 1252(a)(2)(C) forecloses judicial review of “any final order of removal against an alien who is removable by reason of having committed [an aggravated felony],” pursuant to the REAL ID Act of 2005, Pub.L. No. 109-13, Div. B, 119 Stat. 231 (2005), pursuant to § 1252(a)(D)(2), we retain jurisdiction over “constitutional claims or questions of law raised upon a petition for review filed with an appropriate court.”
“Whether application of IIRIRA is impermissibly retroactive presents a question of law that is reviewed de novo.” Sinotes-Cruz v. Gonzales, 468 F.3d 1190, 1194 (9th Cir. 2006) (citing Jimenez-Angeles v. Ashcroft, 291 F.3d 594, 599-600 (9th Cir. 2002)). When, as here, the BIA conducts its own review of the IJ’s findings, we review the decision of the BIA rather than the IJ. Id. (citing Simeonov v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 532, 535 (9th Cir. 2004)). “To the extent the BIA incorporates the IJ’s decision as its own, we treat the IJ’s statements of reasons as the BIA’s and review
When Segoviano Mendoza pled guilty, in February 1996, to third degree rape under Oregon Revised Statute section 163.355, that offense did not qualify as an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43) (1995). IIRIRA § 321(a), however, amended 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(A) to include “sexual abuse of a minor.”
Nor has Segoviano Mendoza demonstrated that his proceedings before the IJ ran afoul of due process. Due process requires the BIA to provide a full and fair hearing and to consider all the evidence. Laritar-Martinez v. INS, 220 F.3d 1092, 1095 (9th Cir. 2000). Segoviano Mendoza has not shown that the agency denied him such opportunity by relying in part on hearsay in police reports; nor has he rebutted the presumption that it failed to consider all the relevant materials in the record, including expert evidence of his rehabilitation. See id. (“[I]t is so expected that a court would review all relevant materials in the record that reviewing courts have presumed it.”).
Because Segoviano Mendoza has not demonstrated that the agency violated his right to due process by retroactively applying IIRIRA § 321 to his pre-IIRIRA offense or by refusing him a full and fair hearing, we deny his petition for review.
DENIED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
. Section § 1182(c) was repealed by § 304(b) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act ("IIRIRA”) of 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009-546. Because Segoviano Mendoza pled guilty before this repeal, he remained eligible to apply for that relief. INS v. St. Cyr., 533 U.S. 289, 326, 121 S.Ct. 2271, 150 L.Ed.2d 347 (2001).
. The REAL ID Act did not alter the prohibition on judicial review of denials of discretionary relief. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B).
. Segoviano Mendoza has not argued that his conviction under Oregon Revised Statute section 163.355 does not constitute "sexual abuse of a minor.”
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.