United States v. Paulino Herrera-Hernandez

MEMORANDUM

We affirm Paulino Herrera-Hernandez’s conviction for entering the United States after having been removed, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a).

Herrera-Hernandez has not shown that his due process rights were violated during the 2008 expedited removal proceedings. To be sure, Herrera-Hernandez struggled to communicate with Officer Lopez in Spanish during the proceedings. Nonetheless, the district court did not clearly err in finding that Herrerar-Hernandez knew enough Spanish to “understand the questions posed to him and to communicate his answers.” Perez-Lastor v. INS, 208 F.3d 773, 778 (9th Cir. 2000). That finding is bolstered by the district court’s credibility determination. Officer Lopez testified that if it had become clear during the interview that Herrera-Hernandez did not understand Spanish, Officer Lopez would have stopped the interview and contacted an interpreter. We give a high degree of deference to factual findings that rest on credibility determinations. Nichols v. Azteca Restaurant Enters., Inc., 256 F.3d 864 , 871 (9th Cir. 2001). This standard of review compels us to defer to the district court’s determination that Herrera-Hernandez did not need an…