Opinion ID: 149972
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: DISCUSSION Jurisdiction

Text: Any alien who has been convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after he has been admitted to the United States is removable. 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii); see also Vargas-Sarmiento v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 448 F.3d 159, 165 (2d Cir.2006). As a rule, federal courts lack jurisdiction to review final agency orders of removal based on an alien's conviction for certain crimes, including aggravated felonies. Vargas-Sarmiento, 448 F.3d at 164 (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C)). Courts of appeals retain jurisdiction, however, to review an order of removal insofar as the petition for review of such an order raises constitutional claims or questions of law. Id. (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D)); see also Chery, 347 F.3d at 407 (We retain jurisdiction ... to determine whether [petitioner] has been convicted of an aggravated felony....). Where, as here, the BIA adopts the IJ's reasoning and offers additional commentary, we review the decision of the IJ as supplemented by the BIA. See Gertsenshteyn v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 544 F.3d 137, 142 (2d Cir.2008); Wala v. Mukasey, 511 F.3d 102, 105 (2d Cir.2007). We review the IJ's and BIA's determinations of law de novo, see Bah v. Mukasey, 529 F.3d 99, 110 (2d Cir.2008), according Chevron deference to the BIA's construction of the INA but not to its interpretation of state or federal criminal laws, see Vargas-Sarmiento, 448 F.3d at 165.