Reyes-Soto v. Lynch, No. 14-3797 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseUSCIS determined that because Juan Reyes-Soto had violated South Carolina Code 16-23-410, South Carolina’s “Pointing firearm at another person” statute, he had committed an aggravated felony and thus could not establish “good moral character.” The district court affirmed. The court held that section 16-23-410 cannot be violated without the “threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another.” Thus, violation of section 16-23-410 is categorically a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. 16(a) and constitutes an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(F). Because Reyes-Soto has an aggravated felony conviction, he is not considered to be “a person of good moral character” as required by section 1427(a), and the district court properly denied his petition for naturalization. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Shepherd, Author, with Loken and Beam, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Immigration. The district court and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services did not err in determining that plaintiff's conviction for pointing a firearm at a person under South Carolina Code Sec. 16-23-410 was an aggravated felony and that plaintiff was not eligible for naturalization because he did not have a good moral character.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.