United States Ninth Circuit

In a petition for review of a decision of the BIA ordering petitioner, a native and citizen of El Salvador, removed, petition is granted in part and denied in part where: 1) there is appellate jurisdiction to review the BIA’s determination that an alien has been convicted of a particularly serious crime and is therefore ineligible for withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii); 2) where for purposes of withholding of removal, an offense need not be an aggravated felony to be a particularly serious crime such that driving under the influence, although not statutorily defined as an aggravated felony, does not preclude the BIA from determining that DUI can be a particularly serious crime; and 3) for asylum purposes, the Attorney General has the authority to designate offenses as particularly serious crimes through case-by-case adjudication as well as regulation.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/19/2011
• Published 08/19/2011

Judges

• FISHER

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel