United States v. Venancio Rojas-Pedroza

Venancio Rojas-Pedroza challenges his conviction and sentence under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (a) and (b) for being an alien found in the United States after removal. We hold that the district court was correct to reject Rojas’s collateral challenge to the validity of the removal order underlying his § 1326(b) sentencing enhancement. We also reject Rojas’s arguments that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation by admitting documents from his immigration file, and his claims that the district court erred procedurally and substantively in imposing a sentence.

I

We begin' with an overview of Rojas’s relevant immigration and criminal background before turning to the proceedings in this case.

A

Rojas entered the United States illegally in 1982, when he was fourteen. The record shows that since that time, he has lived intermittently in the United States, but never had legal status. His parents and his two daughters live in Mexico, although several of his siblings reside in the United States.

When in the United States, Rojas was convicted of a number of criminal offenses. In October 1993, he was convicted of unlicensed driving, possession of an open…