Opinion
15-72702
08-24-2022
VICTOR H. SANCHEZ-NARABE, AKA Victor Lopez, AKA Victor Hiroshim Sanchez, AKA Victor Hiroshima Sanchez, AKA Victor Narabe Sanchez, AKA Victor Hiroshima Sanchez Narabe, Petitioner, v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, Respondent.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
Submitted August 17, 2022 [**]
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A072-245-554
Before: S.R. THOMAS, PAEZ, and LEE, Circuit Judges.
MEMORANDUM [*]
Victor Sanchez-Narabe, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge's decision denying his applications for cancellation of removal, asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review de novo questions of law. Cerezo v. Mukasey, 512 F.3d 1163, 1166 (9th Cir. 2008). We deny the petition for review.
The agency did not err in denying cancellation of removal, asylum, and withholding of removal, where Sanchez-Narabe failed to meet his burden of proof to establish that his conviction under California Health & Safety Code ("CHSC") section 11379(a) is not a controlled substance violation constituting an aggravated felony or particularly serious crime that renders him ineligible for these forms of relief. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1229b(a)(3), 1158(b)(2)(A)(ii), (B)(i), 1231(b)(3)(B)(ii); Pereida v. Wilkinson, 141 S.Ct. 754, 766 (2021) (an applicant for relief from removal cannot establish eligibility where a conviction record is inconclusive as to which elements of a divisible statute formed the offense); Marinelarena v. Garland, 6 F.4th 975, 977 (9th Cir. 2021) (an applicant for cancellation of removal bears the burden of showing that a conviction is not disqualifying); United States v. Barragan, 871 F.3d 689, 715 (9th Cir. 2017) (CHSC § 11379 is divisible); Matter of Y-L-, 23 I. &N. Dec. 270, 274 (A.G. 2002), disapproved of on other grounds in Zheng v. Ashcroft, 332 F.3d 1186, 1196 (9th Cir. 2003) (aggravated felonies involving trafficking in controlled substances are presumptively particularly serious crimes).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
[*] This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
[**] The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).