Reyes v. Lynch, No. 14-73510 (9th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, a citizen of Mexico, seeks review of the BIA's decision finding him ineligible for adjustment of status or cancellation of removal. Petitioner was determined ineligible for adjustment or cancellation under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) because he had been convicted of violating a controlled substance law. The court concluded that a state conviction expunged under state law is still a conviction for purposes of eligibility for cancellation of removal and adjustment of status. And even though incarceration is not required, the federal definition of conviction is satisfied regardless of the rehabilitative purpose of probation, where the alien was punished or his liberty was restrained by the terms of his probation. The court concluded that petitioner is disqualified from seeking cancellation of removal and adjustment of status because he suffered such a qualifying conviction for a crime relating to a controlled substance. Accordingly, the court denied the petition for review.
Court Description: Immigration. The panel denied Antonio Reyes’s petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision finding him ineligible for adjustment of status or cancellation of removal because he had been convicted of violating a controlled substance law. The panel held that a state conviction expunged under state law is still a conviction for purposes of eligibility for adjustment and cancellation. The panel wrote that an alien may be considered convicted of a state crime under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48) when there is no formal judgment of guilt if two conditions are met, and found that Reyes’s case involved the second condition, whether probation was “some form of punishment, penalty, or restraint on the alien’s liberty.” The panel held that although Reyes’s conviction was subsequently expunged, the terms of his probation, including a fine and multiple limitations on his freedom, satisfied the second condition and thus fulfilled the federal definition of a conviction. REYES V. LYNCH 3
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