It has finally happened. The Ninth Circuit ruled in the case of Almanza-Arenas v. Holder. The case at the Ninth Circuit was on review from the Board of Immigration Appeals. It stood for the proposition that when a record of conviction is ambiguous as to whether a crime makes one ineligible for relief, then the person seeking relief fails to meet the burden of eligibility, which is on the applicant, and therefore cannot be granted the relief. The issue arises…

On April 23, 2013, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Moncrieffe v. Holder. In the case, a man, appropriately Mr. Moncrieffe, got convicted of a marijuana distribution crime in Georgia. Drug distribution felonies are categorized as aggravated felonies and render an alien deportable and ineligible for relief. In other words , such a crime results in near-certain deportation. Under federal law, distribution of a small amount of marijuana without remuneration is not deemed an aggravated felony. It was not…

British actor, comic, author, singer, et al., Russell Brand, who is also the husband of Katy Perry, has suffered eleven arrests according to media reports, I can find no information about the final disposition of these arrests, i.e., what he was actually convicted of. Media reports include two arrests for shoplifting and several marijuana arrests, including one for cultivating marijuana. Interviews of him also contain admissions to his having been a drug addict. Assuming some of the reported arrests led to…

Creating a minor buzz is a recent development in the State of Washington. On April 15, 2011, the governor of Washington, Christine Gregoire, signed a bill which reduces the maximum sentence for a gross misdemeanor to 364 days.  The punditry has commented that this is an important law for aliens because it stops many crimes from being classified as aggravated felonies. This is an important effect of the law, but not the most important one. More important is that it…