Arturo Cornejo Norianueva v. Eric H. Holder Jr., No. 08-71385 (9th Cir. 2010)

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FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS OCT 19 2010 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT ARTURO CORNEJO NORIANUEVA, Petitioner, No. 08-71385 Agency No. A095-689-986 v. MEMORANDUM * ERIC H. HOLDER JR., Attorney General, Respondent, On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Argued and Submitted October 6, 2010 San Francisco, California Before: BEEZER, KLEINFELD, and GRABER, Circuit Judges. We review the order of the Board of Immigration Appeals determining that Arturo Cornejo Norianueva is statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(B) and (C). Cornejo, an undocumented alien, signed a plea agreement in 2004 pleading guilty to knowing possession of a firearm by an * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. illegal alien in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5). The Board concluded that Cornejo s 2004 conviction was (1) an aggravated felony and (2) a firearms offense, rendering Cornejo statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal. 8 U.S.C. §§ 1229b(b)(1)(B) & (C); 1101(f)(8); 1227(a)(2). Cornejo is statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal because he has not been a person of good moral character during the 10 years immediately preceding his application. 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(1)(B). A person shall not be found to have good moral character if he has at any time been convicted of an aggravated felony. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(f)(8). Cornejo s 2004 conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5) qualifies as an aggravated felony. Under Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575 (1990), if every conviction under the statute of conviction is also a conviction for the purposes of the Immigration and Nationality Act, then the inquiry ends with the fact of conviction, which perforce qualifies as the INA offense. Carlos-Blaza v. Holder, 611 F.3d 583, 587 (9th Cir. 2010). The INA includes in its definition of an aggravated felony an offense described in . . . section 922(g)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) . . . of title 18 (relating to firearms offenses). 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(E)(ii). Cornejo was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 2 922(g)(5); therefore, he was convicted of an aggravated felony and is statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal. We therefore need not reach the alternative argument that Cornejo s conviction is also a firearms offense under the modified categorical approach. PETITION DENIED. 3

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