Espino-Castillo v. Holder

Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, sought review of the BIA's order of removal. Petitioner was convicted under Ariz. Rev. Stat. 13-2002(A) for using false information in order to obtain employment. The court held that Congress has not exempted state fraud convictions from characterization as crimes involving moral turpitude, when the underlying conduct involved fraud in an application for employment. Beltran-Tirado v. INS, which held that the amendment to the social security laws, that granted immunity from prosecution for longstanding resident aliens who used a false social security number to obtain employment, expressed congressional intent that such conduct did not establish moral turpitude for immigration purposes. The court concluded that Beltran-Tirado is inapplicable to petitioner's case where Beltran-Tirado's holding depended on the history of the specific statutory provision involved in that case, and not a garden-variety state fraud statute like the one involved in this instance. The circumstance-specific approach that Beltran-Tirado took is now in tension with intervening and controlling Supreme Court authority. Accordingly, the court denied the petition. View "Espino-Castillo v. Holder" on Justia Law