Chavez

Chavez v. Holder

Good Law
465 F. App'x 660
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitJanuary 6, 201204-71040California241 words

Opinion

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

Alfredo Chavez, 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 removal order. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review de novo questions of law, Pelayo-Garcia v. Holder, 589 F.3d 1010, 1012 (9th Cir.2009), and we grant the petition for review and remand.

Chavez’s 2002 conviction for oral copulation with a minor in violation of California Penal Code § 288a(b)(1), is not categorically an aggravated felony with respect to either of the federal generic definitions we have adopted for “sexual abuse of a minor” under 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(43)(A), because the statute of conviction lacks the elements of abuse, a four-year age difference between the defendant and the victim, and a victim under the age of 16. See Rivera-Cuartas v. Holder, 605 F.3d 699, 701-02 (9th Cir.2010); Estrada-Espinoza v. Mukasey, 546 F.3d 1147, 1159 (9th Cir.2008), abrogated on other grounds by United States v. Aguilar-Montes de Oca, 655 F.3d 915 (9th Cir.2011) (per curiam). We therefore remand for the BIA to apply the modified categorical approach in the first instance. See…

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