Garcia-Jimenez
Garcia-Jimenez v. Gonzales
Opinion
Opinion
I. BACKGROUND
Garcia-Jimenez is a native and citizen of Mexico. He obtained temporary resident status in November 1988, and his status was adjusted to that of legal permanent resident on December 1, 1990.
On June 8, 1995, Garcia-Jimenez pled guilty to corporal injury of a spouse in violation of California Penal Code § 273.5(a). On March 27, 1996, he pled guilty to possession of cocaine in violation of California Health & Safety Code § 11350(a). On May 27, 2000, Garcia-Jimenez came to the attention of the immigration authorities when he attempted to smuggle his sister-in-law and niece into the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
On June 15, 2000, the former Immigration and Naturaliza- tion Service (“INS”) initiated removal proceedings against Garcia-Jimenez under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) & (II), charging him with removability on account of his committing a crime of moral turpitude (i.e., the domestic violence convic- tion) and a controlled substance violation. On February 19, 2002, the INS also charged Garcia-Jimenez with removability under § 1182(a)(6)(E)(i) arising out of the smuggling incident on May 27, 2000.