Claro

MEMORANDUM **

Cesar Arios Claro, a native and citizen of the Philippines, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming without opinion the decision of an immigration judge (“IJ”) finding Claro removable for having been convicted of an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1227 (a)(2)(A)(iii). The IJ ruled that Claro’s conviction for sexual assault in the third degree under Haw.Rev.Stat. § 707-732(l)(b) constituted sexual abuse of a minor, which is classified as an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(43)(A). 1

To determine whether a crime js an aggravated felony, we apply the categorical approach under Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 600-02 , 110 S.Ct. 2143 , 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990). See Parilla v. Gonzales, 414 F.3d 1038, 1041 (9th Cir.2005). Claro argues that the crime of conviction is not categorically an aggravated felony because it lacks the element of sexual intent. See, e.g., Matter of Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. 991, 995 (BIA 1999) (adopting a definition of sexual abuse of a minor that includes “intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify sexual desire of any person” (citing 18 U.S.C. §…