Opinion ID: 794361
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Identifying Divisible Penal Statutes

Text: 27 Despite this general prohibition against inquiry into the factual circumstances of the crime underlying a removal order, a limited review of the record may be warranted where the statute of conviction is divisible. A criminal statute is divisible if it encompasses multiple categories of offense conduct, some, but not all, of which would categorically constitute aggravated felonies under the INA. See Abimbola v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d at 177; Dickson v. Ashcroft, 346 F.3d at 48; Kuhali v. Reno, 266 F.3d 93, 106 (2d Cir. 2001). In reviewing a removal petition based on a conviction under a divisible statute, a court applying the categorical approach may look beyond the language of the statute to the record of conviction for the limited purpose of determining whether the alien's conviction was under the branch of the statute that permits removal. Dickson v. Ashcroft, 346 F.3d at 48-49. The record of conviction includes the charging document, plea agreement, a verdict or judgment of conviction, and a record of the sentence or plea transcript. Abimbola v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d at 177 (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(3)(B)).