Court Opinion

ID: 9817259
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 04:10:49.325507+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:55:25.496648
License: Public Domain

PREGERSON, J.,
dissenting:
Navarro-Soqui pleaded guilty to a violation of CaLPenal Code § 288(c)(1), which was later reduced to a misdemeanor. Navarro-Soqui’s lawyer never informed him of any potential adverse immigration consequences, nor does the record indicate that the state court provided any such warning.
In declining to sentence Navarro-Soqui to even a single day of prison, the state court noted that he works, stays home, and helps to support his mother and family. That family includes a wife of ten years and three children, all of whom are United States citizens. By obdurately labeling Navarro-Soqui an “aggravated felon” and removing him from the country, the federal government is effectively punishing an entire household of innocents. Navarro-Soqui’s wife and children must now either abandon the United States of America, the country of their birth, or rend their family asunder. To force American citizens into such an agonizing choice is as cold-hearted as it is unjust. I would therefore grant the petition for review.