Arturo Cornejo Norianueva v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION OCT 19 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
ARTURO CORNEJO NORIANUEVA, No. 08-71385
Petitioner, 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. §
2922(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.
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