Hernandez-Aguilar

I. Background

Hernandez-Aguilar is a native and citizen of Mexico. He was born in Tijuana, Mexico in 1972 and entered the United States as an infant in 1973. Hernandez-Aguilar was granted temporary resident status, but that status was revoked in May of 1997. HERNANDEZ-AGUILAR v. HOLDER 863 Beginning in 1997, the Immigration Naturalization Service1 (“INS”) sought to remove Hernandez-Aguilar, claiming that his prior conviction under California law makes him remov- able under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) (violation of law relating to a controlled substance) and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(C) (known or believed controlled substance traf- ficker).

The INS provided evidence that Hernandez-Aguilar was previously convicted in California state court for violating California Health and Safety Code § 11379(a), which states in relevant part:

[E]very person who transports, imports into this state, sells, furnishes, administers, or gives away, or offers to transport, import into this state, sell, fur- nish, administer, or give away, or attempts to import into this state or transport any controlled substance . . . shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for…