Opinion ID: 1456896
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Initial Round of Removal Proceedings

Text: The Government began removal proceedings against Martinez by serving him with a Notice to Appear on June 21, 2001. The Government initially charged two grounds of removability based solely on the March 2000 conviction. The first was for conviction of a controlled substance violation, pursuant to INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(I), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(I). The second ground was for conviction of an aggravated felony, as defined in INA § 101(a)(43)(B), pursuant to INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). A hearing was held before an Immigration Judge (IJ) on September 24, 2003. Martinez admitted committing a controlled substance violation but denied that he had been convicted of an aggravated felony. He, therefore, conceded removability under INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(i), but sought cancellation of removal, for which he was eligible so long as he was not found to have committed an aggravated felony. At the same hearing, Martinez relied on a Third Circuit case, Steele v. Blackman, 236 F.3d 130, 131 (3d Cir.2001), which held that a conviction under New York Penal Law § 221.40 did not constitute an aggravated felony. Martinez further argued that our decision in United States v. Simpson, 319 F.3d 81 (2d Cir.2002), which seemingly cut against him, was limited to the sentencing context only and did not cover removability. After considering whether Martinez had been convicted of an aggravated felony within the meaning of the INA, the IJ ruled on October 24, 2003 that Martinez's drug convictions were aggravated felonies, thereby precluding his eligibility for cancellation of removal under INA § 240A(a)(3). The IJ characterized the question as troubling. He said that the BIA had held in In re Elgendi, 23 I. & N. Dec. 515 (BIA 2002), that a state drug offense was only an aggravated felony if it was a felony in the state in which it was committed, but that the Second Circuit had held in Aguirre v. INS, 79 F.3d 315 (2d Cir.1996), and Simpson, 319 F.3d at 85, that a state drug offense was an aggravated felony if it would be a felony under federal law. Declaring himself bound by the Second Circuit, the IJ held that Martinez's convictions were aggravated felonies. The BIA summarily affirmed. Martinez filed a habeas petition in the Eastern District of New York on April 15, 2004. It was transferred to the Western District of New York and then, after full briefing to the district court, transferred to the Second Circuit on June 20, 2005, pursuant to the REAL ID Act. The case was argued before our court on May 18, 2006. The panel initially waited to make a decision until the Supreme Court had ruled in Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. 47, 127 S.Ct. 625, 166 L.Ed.2d 462 (2006). After the Supreme Court decided Lopez, we requested supplemental briefing on the impact of that decision. On May 8, 2007, we remanded the case to the BIA for reconsideration in light of Lopez.