Alvarez-Reynaga

I. Background

Alvarez-Reynaga, a native and citizen of Mexico, was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1981. Alvarez-Reynaga was subsequently convicted of a felony violation of California Penal Code section 496d(a), purchase or receipt of a stolen vehicle. He received a sentence of one year and four months.

When attempting to return to the United States from Mex- ico in 2006, Alvarez-Reynaga was stopped at the border because there was a warrant outstanding for his arrest, unre- lated to his previous conviction. He was paroled into the United States at that time but soon thereafter became the sub- ject of removal proceedings, based upon his conviction. The immigration judge (“IJ”) ordered that Alvarez-Reynaga be removed to Mexico for having been convicted of an aggra- ALVAREZ-REYNAGA v. HOLDER 2705 vated felony and also for having been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), respectively. The IJ based those conclusions on his determina- tion that a conviction under California Penal Code section 496d(a) fit within the generic definition of a “theft…