Ledezma-Garcia v. Holder, No. 04-35048

Petition for Review of Removal Granted

In Ledezma-Garcia v. Holder, No. 04-35048, a petition for review of petitioner's removal based on his 1988 conviction for sexually molesting a minor in Oregon, the court granted the petition where 1) the 1988 law that made aliens deportable for aggravated felony convictions did not apply to convictions prior to November 18, 1988; and 2) neither Congress's overhaul of the grounds for deportation in 1990 nor its rewrite of the definition of aggravated felony in 1996 erased that temporal limitation.

As the court wrote:  "Ramon Ledezma-Galicia, a lawful permanent resident alien, was convicted in an Oregon state court in September 1988 of sodomy, for sexually molesting a minor. Current law provides that "sexual abuse of a minor" is an "aggravated felony"
as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(A), and therefore grounds for removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii)."

Related Resources

Read the Ninth Circuit's Decision in Ledezma-Garcia v. Holder, No. 04-35048