Source: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/764-F-3d-281-3rd-Cir-2014-13-3288-Hernandez-Cruz-v-Attorney-General-of-United-States-597575138
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 02:22:05+00:00

Document:
Judge Panel: Before: FUENTES, GREENAWAY, JR., and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. (Agency No. A089-239-559). Immigration Judge: Hon. Rosalind K. Malloy.
Jamie Jasso, Esq. [ARGUED], Law Offices of Jaime Jasso, The Westlake Office, Westlake Village, CA, Attorney for Petitioner.
Stuart F. Delery, Esq., Shelley R. Goad, Esq., Regina Byrd, Esq., Katharine E. Clark, Esq. [ARGUED], U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, Washington, D.C., Attorneys for Respondent.
Before: FUENTES, GREENAWAY, JR., and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges.
Luis Alberto Hernandez-Cruz petitions for review of his final order of removal. In his petition to this Court, Hernandez-Cruz argues that his Pennsylvania conviction for child endangerment does not constitute a crime involving moral turpitude (" CIMT" ) because his statute of conviction " may be violated without implicating conduct that the Board . . . has defined as--inherently base, vile, or depraved." Petitioner's Br. 10. We agree. Applying the categorical approach, we conclude that the least culpable conduct criminalized under Pennsylvania's child endangerment statute does not implicate moral turpitude. Therefore, we grant the petition for review and remand to the BIA for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Hernandez-Cruz, a thirty-four year-old citizen of Mexico, entered the United States without inspection in 1998. Eleven years later, he pled guilty in the Court of Common Pleas of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania to simple assault, in violation of 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 2701(a)(1), and endangering the welfare of a child, in violation of 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 4304(a)(1). The charges stemmed from an incident in which Hernandez-Cruz struck his stepson, who was ten years old at the time.
A few months after Hernandez-Cruz's guilty plea, the Department of Homeland Security (" DHS" ) issued a Notice to Appear, charging that he was removable as an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. See Immigration and Nationality Act (" INA" ) § 212(a)(6)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). DHS later filed additional charges, alleging that Hernandez-Cruz was removable as an alien convicted of a CIMT. See INA § 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). These additional charges were based on his convictions for simple assault and child endangerment. Hernandez-Cruz conceded removability as an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled, but denied removability as an alien convicted of a CIMT.
Hernandez-Cruz subsequently applied for cancellation of removal as a nonresident. During his removal proceedings, Hernandez-Cruz testified in support of his application for cancellation of removal and asserted that he believed his United States citizen children would experience exceptional and extremely unusual hardship upon his removal.

References: § 2701
 § 4304
 § 212
 § 1182
 § 212
 § 1182