Francisco Herrera Hernandez v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Francisco Herrera Hernandez, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision finding him removable and pretermitting his application for cancellation of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review de novo questions of law, Mielewczyk v. Holder, 575 F.3d 992, 994 (9th Cir. 2009), and we deny the petition for review.

The BIA correctly determined that Herrera Hernandez’s conviction under California Health and Safety Code § 11360(a) constitutes an offense in violation of a law relating to a controlled substance under 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(2)(A)(i)(II) that renders him removable and statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(C); Mielewczyk, 575 F.3d at 994 -98 & n. 1 (finding the plain language of § 11352(a), a statute “largely identical” to § 11360(a), relates to a controlled substance, and “the distinction between a generic solicitation statute or one specifically aimed at controlled substances is critical when our inquiry is whether the statute of conviction is a state law relating to controlled…