Hernan Hernandez-Zavala v. Eric Holder, Jr.
Filing
PUBLISHED AUTHORED OPINION filed. Originating case number: A205-208-520. [999703269]. [14-1878]
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PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 14-1878
HERNAN HERNANDEZ-ZAVALA, a/k/a Herman Hernandez,
Petitioner,
v.
LORETTA E. LYNCH, Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration
Appeals.
Argued:
September 15, 2015
Decided:
November 20, 2015
Before DUNCAN and FLOYD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Petition for review denied by published opinion.
wrote the opinion, in which Judge Floyd and
Hamilton joined.
Judge Duncan
Senior Judge
ARGUED: William Robinson Heroy, GOODMAN, CARR PLLC, Charlotte,
North Carolina, for Petitioner.
Briena Lorraine Strippoli,
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for
Respondent.
ON BRIEF: Joyce R. Branda, Acting Assistant
Attorney General, Civil Division, Blair T. O’Connor, Assistant
Director, Edward C. Durant, Office of Immigration Litigation,
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for
Respondent.
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DUNCAN, Circuit Judge:
Hernan Hernandez-Zavala petitions for review of the Board
of
Immigration
Appeal’s
(“BIA’s”)
order
affirming
the
Immigration Judge’s (“IJ’s”) pretermission of Hernandez-Zavala’s
application for cancellation of removal.
substantial
evidence
in
the
record
The BIA concluded that
indicated
that
Hernandez-
Zavala had committed a “crime of domestic violence” as defined
under section 237(a)(2)(E)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i).
found
that
cancellation
§ 1229b(b).
Hernandez-Zavala
of
removal
was
under
Given this, the BIA
statutorily
INA
§
ineligible
240A(b),
8
for
U.S.C.
For the reasons set forth below, we deny Hernandez-
Zavala’s petition.
I.
On March 8, 2012, Hernandez-Zavala, a native and citizen of
Mexico,
was
charged
North Carolina law.
with
several
misdemeanor
offenses
under
On March 21, 2012, he pleaded guilty in the
District Court of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, to the
offense of assault with a deadly weapon in violation of N.C.
Gen. Stat. § 14-33(c)(1).
That statute provides as follows:
Unless the conduct is covered under some other
provision of law providing greater punishment, any
person who commits any assault, assault and battery,
or affray is guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor if, in
the course of the assault, assault and battery, or
2
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affray, he or she: (1) Inflicts serious injury upon
another person or uses a deadly weapon . . . .
N.C.
Gen.
Stat.
§
14-33(c)(1).
This
offense
covers
general
assault and battery; it does not specifically cover incidents of
domestic violence or require proof of a domestic relationship.
In this case, it is undisputed that the victim of the assault
was
a
woman
“partner,”
Hernandez-Zavala
with
whom
described
he
resides
the
in
and
Department
his
brief
shares
as
a
his
child.
Petitioner’s Br. at 4.
On
(“DHS”)
March
9,
served
2012,
Hernandez-Zavala
with
of
a
Homeland
Notice
to
Security
Appear.
Because Hernandez-Zavala had been neither admitted nor paroled
when
he
entered
the
removability
8 U.S.C.
United
States,
under
DHS
INA
1182(a)(6)(A)(i).
charged
him
with
§ 212(a)(6)(A)(i),
Hernandez-Zavala
conceded
removability and applied for cancellation of removal. 1
On
February
4,
2013,
DHS
moved
to
pretermit
Hernandez-
Zavala’s application, asserting that he had been convicted of a
1
Pursuant to the INA, “[t]he Attorney General may cancel
removal of, and adjust to the status of an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence, an alien who is inadmissible
or deportable from the United States if the alien” satisfies
certain criteria.
8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1).
One such criterion
is that the noncitizen must not have been convicted of any of
the criminal offenses enumerated in 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2). See
8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(C).
3
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“crime of domestic violence” under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i).
Under
this
provision,
“[a]ny
alien
who
at
any
time
after
admission is convicted of a crime of domestic violence . . . is
deportable.”
8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i).
The same provision
defines a “crime of domestic violence” as
any crime of violence (as defined in section 16 of
title 18) against a person committed by a current or
former spouse of the person, by an individual with
whom the person shares a child in common, by an
individual who is cohabiting with or has cohabited
with the person as a spouse, by an individual
similarly situated to a spouse of the person under the
domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction
where the offense occurs, or by any other individual
against
a
person
who
is
protected
from
that
individual’s
acts under
the
domestic
or
family
violence laws of the United States or any State,
Indian tribal government, or unit of local government.
Id.
Asserting that Hernandez-Zavala had committed such a crime,
DHS argued that he was therefore ineligible for cancellation of
removal
under
8
U.S.C.
§ 1229b(b)(1)(C).
Hernandez-Zavala
contested this assertion, claiming that his assault conviction
does not constitute a “crime of domestic violence.”
On March 18, 2013, the IJ granted DHS’s motion to pretermit
Hernandez-Zavala’s
application
for
cancellation
of
removal.
Applying 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i), the IJ first determined
that the offense for which Hernandez-Zavala was convicted was
categorically a “crime of violence” under 18 U.S.C. § 16, a
finding that Hernandez-Zavala does not challenge on appeal.
4
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Next,
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the
IJ
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considered
whether
the
North
Carolina
conviction was a “crime of domestic violence” under the INA.
The
IJ
considered
the
offense
of
conviction
as
well
as
the
underlying evidence and found that Hernandez-Zavala’s conviction
constituted a “crime of domestic violence” under both a modified
categorical approach and a circumstance-specific approach.
IJ
thus
concluded
that
Hernandez-Zavala
was
The
statutorily
ineligible for cancellation of removal.
On
April
decision
to
8,
the
2013,
BIA,
Hernandez-Zavala
arguing
that
the
appealed
IJ
the
should
IJ’s
not
have
considered any underlying evidence and that his conviction was
not
categorically
§ 1227(a)(2)(E)(i).
a
disqualifying
offense
under
He did not contest the IJ’s finding with
respect to his domestic relationship with his victim.
The BIA,
adopting the circumstance-specific approach, concluded that the
IJ properly found that Hernandez-Zavala’s conviction constituted
a
“crime
ineligible
of
for
domestic
violence,”
cancellation
of
rendering
removal.
him
statutorily
Hernandez-Zavala
subsequently filed a petition for review with this court.
II.
The question presented in this case is a purely legal one:
whether a conviction under a state law that does not have a
domestic
relationship
as
an
element
5
of
the
offense
can
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constitute
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a
“crime
§ 1227(a)(2)(E)(i).
of
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domestic
violence”
under
8
U.S.C.
This is a matter of first impression in
this circuit.
On appeal from the BIA, this court reviews legal questions
de novo.
Salem v. Holder, 647 F.3d 111, 115 (4th Cir. 2011).
Where, as here, “the BIA and the immigration judge both issue
decisions
in
a
case,
we
review
both
decisions
upon
appeal.”
Kourouma v. Holder, 588 F.3d 234, 239-40 (4th Cir. 2009).
This
court has jurisdiction over this petition for review pursuant to
INA § 242(a), 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a).
A.
Under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i), a “crime of domestic
violence” has two requirements: it must be a “crime of violence”
as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 16, and the crime must have been
committed by an individual who was in a domestic relationship
with the victim.
There is no dispute in this case that Hernandez-Zavala’s
North
Carolina
assault
conviction
constitutes
a
“crime
of
violence” under 18 U.S.C. § 16 2 or that Hernandez-Zavala was in a
2
A “crime of violence” is “an offense that has as an
element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical
force against the person or property of another,” or “any other
offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a
substantial risk that physical force against the person or
(Continued)
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domestic relationship with his victim.
whether
the
must be
an
domestic
element
relationship
of
the
The only question is
requirement
underlying
offense
in
of
the
statute
conviction,
triggering the categorical approach, or if it must merely be an
attendant circumstance of the underlying conviction, triggering
the circumstance-specific approach.
Hernandez-Zavala
argues
that
the
categorical
approach
should apply, while DHS argues that the circumstance-specific
approach should apply.
only
look
to
the
Under the categorical approach, one need
statutory
definition
of
the
North
Carolina
offense to see if it contains the necessary elements of a “crime
of domestic violence” under the INA.
If the elements do not
correspond, the inquiry stops there.
Under the “circumstance-
specific”
approach,
evidence
of
the
the
court
conviction
may
to
also
consider
determine
if
underlying
a
domestic
relationship existed between Hernandez-Zavala and his victim.
B.
To determine which approach should apply, we first consider
the previous uses of, and the rationales behind, the categorical
approach
and
the
circumstance-specific
approach.
We
then
property of another may be used in the course of committing the
offense.” 18 U.S.C. § 16.
7
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address the specific “crime of domestic violence” provision at
issue in this petition.
We conclude that when assessing whether
an underlying state conviction qualifies as a crime of domestic
violence under the INA, the use of the circumstance-specific
approach is proper in determining whether the requisite domestic
relationship
existed.
Accordingly,
we
find
that
Hernandez-
Zavala’s conviction for assault with a deadly weapon against a
woman
with
constitutes
whom
a
he
“crime
was
in
of
a
domestic
domestic
relationship
violence,”
indeed
rendering
him
ineligible for cancellation of removal.
1.
Although the categorical approach had its beginnings in the
criminal context, it has “a long pedigree” in immigration law.
Moncrieffe v. Holder, 133 S. Ct. 1678, 1685 (2013).
It is
“[r]ooted in Congress’ specification of conviction, not conduct,
as
the
trigger
for
immigration
consequences.”
Mellouli
v.
Lynch, 135 S. Ct. 1980, 1986 (2015).
Under the categorical approach, “we look not to the facts
of the particular prior case, but instead to whether the state
statute
within
defining
the
crime.
‘generic’
crime
of
federal
conviction
definition
categorically
of
a
fits
corresponding”
Moncrieffe, 133 S. Ct. at 1684 (quoting Gonzales v.
Duenas-Alvarez,
omitted).
the
549
U.S.
183,
186
(2007))(quotation
marks
The Court clarified that “[b]y ‘generic,’ we mean the
8
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offenses must be viewed in the abstract, to see whether the
state
statute
shares
the
nature
serves as a point of comparison.”
of
the
federal
offense
that
Id.
A generic federal offense and a state offense categorically
match “only if a conviction of the state offense ‘necessarily’
involved . . . facts
offense].”
24
Id.
equating
to
[the]
generic
[federal
(quoting Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13,
(2005))(quotation
marks
omitted)(alterations
in
original).
Consequently, we make no factual inquiry into the particular
circumstances of the conviction. 3
This
approach
judicial
and
is
a
practical
administrative
Mellouli, 135 S. Ct. at 1986.
one,
designed
efficiency
by
to
“promote[]
precluding
the
relitigation of past convictions in minitrials conducted long
after the fact.”
Moncrieffe, 133 S. Ct. at 1690.
3
At times, the statute under which the defendant was
convicted may be “divisible”--that is, it may “set[] out one or
more elements of the offense in the alternative.”
Descamps v.
United States, 133 S. Ct. 2276, 2281 (2013).
Under those
circumstances, the sentencing court or the immigration judge may
“consult a limited class of documents, such as indictments and
jury instructions, to determine which alternative formed the
basis of the defendant’s prior conviction.” Id. The sentencing
court or the IJ then proceeds to the traditional categorical
approach, and “compare[s] the elements of the crime of
conviction (including the alternative element used in the case)
with the elements of the generic crime.” Id.
Because “the dispute here does not concern any list of
alternative elements,” but rather concerns the total absence of
an element from the state offense, the modified categorical
approach “has no role to play in this case.” Id. at 2285.
9
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2.
When
the
federal
statute
does
not
describe
a
generic
offense, but instead “refer[s] to the specific acts in which an
offender
engaged
on
a
specific
occasion,”
specific approach is appropriate.
29, 34 (2009).
the
circumstance-
Nijhawan v. Holder, 557 U.S.
Under this approach, while the congruence of the
elements of the underlying offense and the offense described in
the
federal
statute
approach,
courts
necessary
must
may
attendant
be
assessed
consider
other
circumstances
using
the
evidence
existed.
to
categorical
see
the
e.g.,
See,
if
id.
at 38, 42-43.
In Nijhawan v. Holder, the Supreme Court for the first time
applied
the
context.
circumstance-specific
approach
in
the
immigration
There, the Court considered another criminal offense
enumerated in 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2), that, like the one here,
renders an individual ineligible for cancellation of removal.
An
“aggravated
includes
which
“an
the
felony,”
offense
loss
to
defined
that . . . involves
the
victim
8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(M)(i).
that
definition’s
referring
to
a
elsewhere
loss
or
fraud
victims
the
or
statute,
deceit
exceeds
in
$10,000.”
The issue in Nijhawan was whether
requirement
generic
in
crime,
should
be
triggering
interpreted
the
as
categorical
approach, or whether it should be interpreted as “referring to
the specific way in which an offender committed the crime on a
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specific
occasion,”
triggering
approach.
the
“circumstance-specific”
Nijhawan, 557 U.S. at 34.
The Court found that the provision in question triggered
the
circumstance-specific
phrasing
and
in
part
approach
in
because
“to
part
because
apply
a
of
its
categorical
approach . . . would leave [the provision] with little, if any,
meaningful application.”
Id. at 39.
The Court emphasized that
it had “found no widely applicable federal fraud statute that
contains a relevant monetary loss threshold.”
Id.
Further, at
the time the law was passed, only eight states had statutes that
would have had a relevant threshold if subparagraph (M)(i) were
interpreted under the categorical approach.
Concluding
that
Congress
would
Id. at 40.
not
have
designed
subparagraph (M)(i) “to apply in so limited and so haphazard a
manner,”
the
Court
held
that
the
meant to be applied categorically.
“to
the
specific
circumstances
monetary
threshold
was
not
Instead, courts must look
surrounding
an
offender’s
commission of a fraud and deceit crime on a specific occasion.”
Id.
In Moncrieffe, the Court provided additional guidance for
when courts could deviate from the categorical approach and use
the circumstance-specific approach outlined in Nijhawan.
The
Court noted that the monetary threshold at issue in Nijhawan was
“a
limitation,
written
into
the
11
INA
itself.”
Moncrieffe,
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133 S. Ct. at 1691.
proper,”
facts
Congress
found
in
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By “[l]ocating this exception in the INA
indicated
immigration
“an
intent
to
have
proceedings.”
the
Id.
relevant
The
Court
contrasted this with situations in which “the INA incorporates
other
criminal
refer
to
applies.”
statutes
generic
Id.
wholesale,”
crimes,’
to
which
in
which
the
case
“it
categorical
‘must
approach
(quoting Nijhawan, 557 U.S. at 37).
In United States v. Hayes, the Court considered a criminal
statute with nearly identical statutory text to the provision
before us.
555 U.S. 415 (2009).
There, the Court interpreted
the definition of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” for
the purposes of a firearm possession ban in the Gun Control Act
of
1968,
18
U.S.C.
§ 922(g)(9).
This
term
is
defined
in
18 U.S.C. § 921 as an offense that
has, as an element, the use or attempted use of
physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly
weapon, committed by a current or former spouse,
parent, or guardian of the victim, by a person with
whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person
who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the
victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or by a
person similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or
guardian of the victim.
18
U.S.C.
§
921(a)(33)(A)(ii).
Although
Hayes
arose
in
the
criminal context rather than in the immigration context, we find
its reasoning instructive.
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The Court considered whether, for the conviction to trigger
the possession ban, the underlying conviction must include as an
element the existence of a domestic relationship between the
victim and the aggressor.
ultimately
concluded
Hayes, 555 U.S. at 418.
that
the
relationship
denominated an element of the predicate offense.”
The Court
“need
not
be
Id. at 426.
Again, the Court looked to the language Congress used and
to the purpose of the law.
It reasoned that because Congress
had used the singular form of the word “element” in the text,
this “suggest[ed] that Congress intended to describe only one
required element.”
manner
in
Id. at 421.
which
relationship
the
with
The Court found that “[t]he
offender
the
acts,
victim,
are
and
the
offender’s
conceptually
distinct
attributes.” Id. (citation and quotation marks omitted).
term
“element”
immediately
precedes
the
use
The
of
force
requirement, not the domestic relationship requirement.
Thus,
the Court ultimately concluded that, “[h]ad Congress meant to
make
the
latter
predicate
as
offense,
it
well
it
as
the
likely
‘elements,’
as
has
provisions.”
done
former
would
in
an
have
element
used
other
the
of
the
plural
offense-defining
Id. at 421-22.
Additionally, the Supreme Court noted that at the time the
statute
criminal
was
passed,
statutes
“only
about
that
specifically
13
one-third
of
the
proscribed
States
had
domestic
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violence.”
states
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Id. at 427.
that
did
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The Court further found that even in
have
laws
specifically
against
domestic
violence, “domestic abuses were (and are) routinely prosecuted
under
generally
applicable
assault
or
battery
laws.”
Id.
Therefore, to hold that the categorical approach should apply
would “would frustrate Congress’ manifest purpose.”
Id.
C.
Because
of
the
statutory
structure,
the
Supreme
Court’s
holding in Hayes, and practical considerations, we conclude that
the circumstance-specific approach should apply in this case.
First,
Nijhawan
was
Moncrieffe,
relationship
just
“a
133
as
the
monetary
limitation[]
S.
Ct.
component
at
threshold
written
1691,
here.
so
This
requirement
in
into
the
INA
itself,”
too
is
the
domestic
provision
of
the
INA
incorporated by reference the definition of the generic “crime
of
violence”
“wholesale.”
under
Id.
18
U.S.C.
§
16,
but
it
did
not
do
so
Rather, it limited deportation consequences
to a certain class of offenders.
Under this provision, a crime
of violence is a deportable offense only when “committed by”
someone in a domestic relationship with the victim.
§ 1227(a)(2)(E)(i).
Further,
as
the
Court
has
8 U.S.C.
previously
remarked, when Congress “[l]ocat[es] [an] exception in the INA
proper,” it indicates its “intent to have the relevant facts
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found
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in
Filed: 11/20/2015
immigration
Pg: 15 of 19
proceedings.”
Moncrieffe,
133
S.
Ct.
at 1691.
Second, we find the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the
nearly
identical
statutory
text
in
Hayes
to
be
instructive.
Hernandez-Zavala primarily relies on one distinction between the
statute at issue in Hayes and the relevant statute in his case:
“the use of the word ‘element.’” Petitioner’s Br. at 16.
He argues that the conclusion in Hayes hinged on Congress’s
use of the singular form of “element.”
Therefore, in his view,
the absence of the word “element” from § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i) should
result in the opposite conclusion here.
does
appear
reference
18
U.S.C.
offense
in
in
§
that
the
16
has
§ 1227(a)(2)(E)(i):
it
is
of
“crime
of
“crime
of
definition
(defining
as
an
But the word “element”
element
the
incorporated
violence.”
violence”
use,
to
See
mean
attempted
by
use,
“an
or
threatened use of physical force against the person or property
of another” (emphasis added)).
It is thus even more clear in
the INA than in the statute at issue in Hayes that the term
“element” applies only to the use of force requirement.
Finally,
the
practical
considerations
described
in
Hayes
support the conclusion that Congress did not intend to require
the
domestic
underlying
relationship
offense.
component
Congress
to
passed
be
the
an
element
INA’s
of
“crime
the
of
domestic violence” provision in 1996, the same year it passed
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§ 922(g)(9), the statute at issue in Hayes.
Just as in Hayes,
to construe this statute as requiring the domestic relationship
to
be
an
element
of
the
underlying
offense
“would
frustrate
Congress’ manifest purpose,” given that the law “would have been
‘a dead letter’ in some two-thirds of the States from the very
moment of its enactment.”
The
practical
Hayes, 555 U.S. at 427.
considerations
listed
by
this
court
in
Prudencio v. Holder also weigh in favor of the circumstancespecific approach.
669 F.3d 472 (4th Cir. 2012).
In Prudencio,
which concerned the applicability of the circumstance-specific
approach to the phrase “crime involving moral turpitude,” we
observed
that
the
monetary
threshold
Nijhawan is an “objective” one.
criterion
at
issue
in
The determination of amount of
loss “requires no interpretation whatsoever,” with an inquiry
“involv[ing] only the inspection of a single threshold fact.”
Prudencio, 669 F.3d at 483.
turpitude,”
however,
The phrase “crime involving moral
involves
a
determination
that
“could
require evaluation of all the evidence in an underlying criminal
case
by
an
proceedings.”
adjudicator
Id.
Thus,
wholly
while
unfamiliar
the
with
those
circumstance-specific
approach was appropriate in Nijhawan, it was not appropriate in
Prudencio.
Our
“very
real
evidentiary
concerns”
in
Prudencio
surrounding such “unbridled evaluation” are not present in this
16
Appeal: 14-1878
Doc: 35
case.
Id.
noncitizen
domestic
Filed: 11/20/2015
Pg: 17 of 19
The inquiry that must be made here--whether the
and
the
victim
of
the
relationship--involves
threshold
fact.
straightforward
adjudicator
conclusion.
will
This
and
have
the
conduct
offense
inspection
determination
objective,
to
prior
reducing
a
were
of
a
in
a
single
will
often
be
fears
that
the
“minitrial”
to
reach
a
As the Court noted in Hayes, “generally . . . it
would entail no elaborate factfinding process . . . to determine
whether the victim of a violent assault was the perpetrator’s
‘current or former spouse’ or bore one of the other domestic
relationships.”
555 U.S. at 427 n.9 (citations omitted).
Our reasoning is in accord with our only sister circuit to
have addressed this issue after the Supreme Court’s decisions in
Hayes and Nijhawan.
In Bianco v. Holder, the Fifth Circuit
similarly concluded that the domestic relationship component in
the INA’s definition of a “crime of domestic violence” did not
need to be an element of the underlying offense.
624 F.3d 265,
272 (5th Cir. 2010).
Although the Fifth Circuit gave “respectful consideration”
to the Ninth Circuit’s 2004 interpretation of this statute in
Tokatly v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 613 (9th Cir. 2004), the court
concluded that it must “view that court’s analysis in light of
two subsequent Supreme Court decisions that arguably opened the
door to a new ‘circumstance-specific’ approach.”
17
Id. at 270.
Appeal: 14-1878
Doc: 35
We agree.
Filed: 11/20/2015
Pg: 18 of 19
Although the Ninth Circuit has continued to favorably
cite Tokatly following Hayes and Nijhawan, see, e.g., OlivasMotta v. Holder, 746 F.3d 907, 912 (9th Cir. 2013), we do not
find Tokatly’s reasoning persuasive given the Supreme Court’s
subsequent holdings.
Our conclusion today does not conflict with our previous
assessment
that
Nijhawan
does
not
“permit[]
an
unrestricted
circumstance-specific inquiry in the absence of express guidance
from
Congress.”
relationship
which
Prudencio,
requirement
“Congress
669
falls
modified
F.3d
within
the
at
483.
the
generic
The
narrow
domestic
category
in
crime . . . with
a
qualifying phrase that requires a fact-specific review.”
Id.
As the Fifth Circuit concluded in Bianco, “the categorical and
modified categorical approaches remain the analysis in the areas
of
their
traditional
application,
including
a
court’s
application of those approaches to identifying the elements of
offenses
for
which
Section 1227(a)(2).”
aliens
may
be
removed
under
624 F.3d at 273.
III.
In conclusion, we affirm the BIA’s decision because we find
that
Hernandez-Zavala’s
conviction
for
assault
with
a
deadly
weapon, committed against someone with whom he had a domestic
relationship, renders him ineligible for cancellation of removal
18
Appeal: 14-1878
under
Doc: 35
8
U.S.C.
Filed: 11/20/2015
§ 1229b(b).
Pg: 19 of 19
For
the
reasons
stated
above,
Hernandez-Zavala’s petition for review is
DENIED.
19
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