Opinion ID: 1264167
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Immigration Consequences of Expunged State Convictions

Text: A nonpermanent resident seeking cancellation of removal must meet four threshold requirements. 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1). Specifically, the alien must: (A) [have] been physically present in the United States for a continuous period of not less than 10 years immediately preceding the date of such application; (B) [have] been a person of good moral character during such period; (C) [have] not been convicted of an offense[that would render the alien inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2), or deportable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)-(3)], subject to [certain exceptions for victims of domestic violence]; and (D) establish[ ] that removal would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to the alien's spouse, parent, or child, who is a citizen of the United States or alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Id. In analyzing the first requirement, any period of . . . continuous physical presence in the United States shall be deemed to end . . . when the alien has committed an offense referred to in 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2) that renders the alien inadmissible under that provision, or removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2) or (a)(4). Id. § 1229b(d)(1). Under § 1182(a)(2), an alien convicted of a crime relating to a controlled substance is deemed inadmissible, subject to certain exceptions for youthful offenders or minor offenses. Id. § 1182(a)(2)(i), (ii). Therefore, a prior drug conviction theoretically can affect a nonpermanent resident's eligibility for cancellation of removal in either of two ways: (1) It can render the alien directly ineligible under § 1229b(b)(1)(C); and (2) it can terminate the alien's continuous physical presence, thereby precluding eligibility under § 1229b(b)(1)(A) and § 1229b(d)(1). But see Sinotes-Cruz v. Gonzales, 468 F.3d 1190, 1202-03 (9th Cir. 2006) (holding that the stop-time rule of § 1229b(d)(1) does not apply retroactively to crimes before 1996). Ramirez-Altamirano argues that his prior conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia does not render him ineligible for relief because the California court set aside the conviction pursuant to a state rehabilitative statute. [3] The BIA has followed a general rule that [f]or immigration purposes, a person continues to stand convicted of an offense notwithstanding a later expungement under a state's rehabilitative statute. Ramirez-Castro v. INS, 287 F.3d 1172, 1174 (9th Cir.2002). Although we have explained that the BIA's interpretation is only one of many plausible readings of our immigration laws, we have generally deferred to the BIA's rule when considering the effect of expunged state convictions. See id.; Murillo-Espinoza v. INS, 261 F.3d 771, 774 (9th Cir. 2001). However, although state rehabilitative statutes generally do not strip a conviction of its immigration consequences, the federal rehabilitative statute known as the Federal First Offender Act does. The FFOA provides relief for first-time defendants found guilty of drug possession. 18 U.S.C. § 3607. If the defendant has not previously been convicted of a federal or state controlled substance offense and has not previously been a beneficiary of the FFOA, the court may place him on probation without entering a judgment of conviction. Id. § 3607(a). At the end of the probation term, if the defendant has not violated any of the conditions of probation, the court will dismiss the proceedings and discharge the defendant without entering a judgment of conviction. Id. Moreover, if the defendant was less than twenty-one years old at the time of the offense, the court not only will dismiss the charges, but also will expunge all references to the arrest itself from most official records. Id. § 3607(c). [4] Because nothing indicates that Congress intended to create an immigration-based exception to the FFOA, we have held that deferred convictions may not be treated as convictions for immigration purposes when the proceedings are later dismissed under the FFOA. See Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 743-49; see also Garberding v. INS, 30 F.3d 1187, 1189-91 (9th Cir.1994). Given that the FFOA provides immigration relief for first-time defendants found guilty of drug possession in federal court, the Equal Protection Clause requires a parallel exception for similarly situated defendants prosecuted in state court. Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 749; Paredes-Urrestarazu v. INS, 36 F.3d 801, 811-12 (9th Cir.1994); Garberding, 30 F.3d at 1191. We have held that there is no rational basis for denying immigration relief based on the mere happenstance that the individual was prosecuted by the state rather than by the federal government. See Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 743 n. 24. We also have found no rational basis for denying immigration relief merely because a state rehabilitative statute's procedural and structural details differed from those of the FFOA. See id. at 738 n. 18 ([T]he critical question is not the nature of the state's expungement statute but rather what [the petitioner] did. (second alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted)); Garberding, 30 F.3d at 1190-91. Instead, the Equal Protection Clause requires that the immigration benefits of the FFOA be extended to those individuals granted relief under state rehabilitative statutes who would have been eligible for relief under the [FFOA] had their offenses been prosecuted as federal crimes. Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 749. [5] Federal convictions deferred under the FFOA and state convictions expunged under the rationale of Lujan-Armendariz no longer qualify as convictions for immigration purposes. See id. at 742-43. Therefore, if Ramirez-Altamirano's set-aside conviction is considered expunged under Lujan-Armendariz, both grounds upon which the IJ denied Ramirez-Altamirano's application are invalid. First, the conviction will not directly preclude eligibility for cancellation for removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(C). Second, the conviction will not terminate Ramirez-Altamirano's continuous physical presence under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(A) and § 1229b(d)(1). [6] See, e.g., In re Mandigma, No. A43 022 132, 2008 WL 1734632 (BIA 2008) ([T]he respondent's 1997 possession offense [expunged under Lujan-Armendariz ] does not make him inadmissible to the United States under section 212(a)(2) of the Act, and the stop-time rule did not end the respondent's continuous residence. . . .).