Jang v. Garland, No. 19-4289 (2d Cir. 2022)
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Petitioner sought review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision finding her ineligible for cancellation of removal because of her 2014 New York conviction for attempted second-degree money laundering. Petitioner entered the United States without inspection in 1995. In 2014, she pleaded guilty under a plea agreement to attempted money laundering in the second degree. The agreement provided that she would receive a sentence of “time served.” Days later, the Department of Homeland Security served Petitioner with a Notice to Appear, charging her as removable for having entered the United States without inspection. Petitioner did not contest removability.
The Second Circuit granted Petitioner’s review of the Board of Immigration Appeals decision affirming the denial of Petitioner’s application for cancellation of removal. The court held that because the crime of conviction lacks the requisite scienter, it is not a crime involving moral turpitude. The court reasoned that the INA provides that aliens convicted of, or who admit having committed, or who admit committing acts that constitute the essential elements of a crime involving moral turpitude are ineligible for cancellation of removal. To determine whether a crime is a CIMT, the agency asks whether the act is accompanied by a vicious motive or a corrupt mind. Both the circuit court and the BIA have made clear that the indispensable component of a CIMT is evil intent. Here, the knowledge required for conviction under Petitioner’s crime falls well short of the depravity described by the BIA as requisite for a CIMT.
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on July 29, 2022.
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