Felipe Espino-Castillo v. Eric Holder, Jr.

In this petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order of removal, the novel question is whether Congress has exempted state fraud convictions from characterization as crimes involving moral turpitude, when the underlying conduct involved fraud in an application for employment. We hold Congress has not.

Petitioner relies on our decision in Beltran-Tirado v. INS, 213 F.3d 1179 (9th Cir.2000), where we considered an amendment to the social security laws that granted immunity from prosecution for longstanding resident aliens who used a false social security number to obtain employment. We held the amendment expressed congressional intent that such conduct did not establish moral turpitude for immigration purposes. We have never applied Beltrarir-Tirado’s holding outside the social security context. We therefore deny the petition.

BACKGROUND

Petitioner Felipe Espino-Castillo is a native and citizen of Mexico who entered the United States in approximately 1992 without admission or parole. He has lived in this country continuously since that time. In 2012, he was convicted in the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Arizona, of two counts of forgery in…