Rivera-Delgado

MEMORANDUM *

Petitioner Paulino Rivera-Delgado (“Rivera”), petitions this Court for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming without opinion a decision by an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) ordering Rivera removed to Mexico and finding him ineligible for adjustment of status. We grant the petition and remand.

Rivera argues that the agency erred in holding that his 1999 conviction under Cal.Penal Code § 422 is categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (“CIMT”), making him inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(2)(A)(i)(I) (as “an[ ] alien convicted of ... a crime involving moral turpitude”). Neither the BIA nor this Court has ever decided whether a conviction under § 422 necessarily involves moral turpitude. In the absence of directly controlling case law, the IJ relied on Matter of Ajami, 22 I. & N. Dec. 949 (BIA 1999), which involved a conviction for aggravated stalking, to conclude that a conviction under § 422 is necessarily a CIMT. [AR 38]

After the BIA affirmed the IJ’s order of removal, and shortly before argument in this case, the Attorney General decided Matter of Silva-Trevino, 24 I. & N. Dec. 687 (A.G.2008), which provides a general…