Opinion ID: 3035696
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: We begin by noting that, although the IJ found Kelava removable for being convicted of an aggravated felony, we are not deprived of jurisdiction to hear his appeal under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C), because the BIA chose not to address the aggravated felony conviction in its decision, basing its decision solely on the terrorist activity charge. We addressed a similar situation in Toro-Romero v. Ashcroft, 382 F.3d 930 (9th Cir. 2004). There, the IJ found ToroRomero removable for having been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude and for falsely representing himself as a United States citizen. While § 1252(a)(2)(C) would have prohibited this court’s jurisdiction over the moral turpitude removal, the BIA affirmed Toro-Romero’s removal only on the false representation ground, expressly declining to decide any other issues raised by Toro-Romero on appeal. Id. at 93233. We explained that our review is limited to the BIA’s decision, and the sole ground for the final order of removal was therefore Toro-Romero’s false representation. Id. at 934-35. Thus, we concluded we did have jurisdiction over the petition for review. Id. at 935. [1] Likewise, in this case, although the IJ found Kelava removable on both reviewable and nonreviewable grounds, the BIA affirmed only the terrorist activity charge, expressly declining to reach the other issues presented. Even if the BIA could have found Kelava removable as an aggravated felon, 552 KELAVA v. GONZALES it did not. Accordingly, we have jurisdiction over Kelava’s petition, at least with respect to the continued availability of § 212(c) relief for those who engaged in a terrorist activity prior to the elimination of such relief.4