Jose Ortiz Narez v. Merrick Garland

BACKGROUND

Ortiz entered the United States from Mexico as a lawful permanent resident at a young age. While in this country, Ortiz amassed an extensive juvenile and adult criminal history. Relevant here, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in violation of California Penal Code (CPC) § 192(a) in 1984 and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. 2 Ortiz was also later convicted of corporal punishment or injury of a child in violation of CPC § 273d in 2002.

Under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A), the Attorney General can order the removal of a non-citizen who either (i) was convicted within five years of entering the United States of a CIMT that may be punishable by a sentence of one year or longer, or (ii) was convicted of two or more CIMTs not arising out of a single scheme of criminal misconduct.

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) served Ortiz with a Notice to Appear charging him with removability because he committed crimes of moral 1 We address and reject Ortiz’s other claims in a separate memorandum disposition.

2 The documents in the record cite California Penal Code § 192.1, but the actual voluntary manslaughter provision at the time of Ortiz’s…