Edgar Murillo-Chavez, a native of Mexico, entered the United States as a child without formal admission. He was granted Special Immigrant Juvenile status in 2010 and adjusted to lawful permanent resident status in 2011. In 2016 and 2018, he was convicted in Oregon state court of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon, and first-degree criminal mistreatment. The Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings, charging him with removability based on a firearms offense and two crimes involving moral turpitude. An Immigration Judge found him removable and ineligible for cancellation of removal because his crimes occurred within seven years of his admission. Murillo appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which affirmed the decision but calculated his admission date as 2011 rather than 2010. Murillo then filed a motion to reopen, claiming his former counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that his admission date was 2010 and for failing to contest the firearms charge, but the BIA denied the motion. The Ninth Circuit consolidated his petitions for review.
The panel first addressed whether Murillo waived his challenge to the firearms offense finding. The court agreed with the government that Murillo failed to exhaust this claim before the BIA, but noted that he raised it in his motion to reopen as a claim of ineffective assistance. The court rejected the ineffective assistance claim regarding the firearms offense because the underlying determination was correct. Applying the categorical approach, the court found that while the Oregon statute was facially broader than the federal definition due to antique firearms, it was divisible. Murillo was convicted under a subsection covering only non-antique firearms, which categorically matches the federal definition. The court then turned to the cancellation of removal eligibility, which requires seven years of continuous residence after being 'admitted in any status.' The central dispute was whether Murillo was admitted in 2010 when he received Special Immigrant Juvenile status or in 2011 when he became a lawful permanent resident. Relying on the Supreme Court's decision in Sanchez v. Mayorkas, which distinguished between lawful status and lawful entry, the Ninth Circuit held that Special Immigrant Juvenile status is a form of parole and does not constitute an 'admission.' Therefore, the seven-year period began in 2011. Since both the unlawful use of a weapon and the criminal mistreatment offenses occurred in 2017 and 2018, they fell within the seven-year bar regardless of the specific dates alleged by counsel. Consequently, any error by counsel regarding the dates did not prejudice Murillo. Finally, the court analyzed whether first-degree criminal mistreatment under Oregon law is a crime involving moral turpitude. The court concluded that the statute requires knowing or intentional withholding of necessary care, creating a substantial risk of serious harm. This conduct violates accepted moral standards and involves an intent to injure, satisfying the definition of a crime involving moral turpitude. The court rejected arguments that the statute covers non-turpitudinous conduct or lacks specific intent, noting that knowing conduct is sufficient for moral turpitude.
The decision clarifies that Special Immigrant Juvenile status does not trigger the seven-year continuous residence requirement for cancellation of removal, aligning the Ninth Circuit with the Supreme Court's distinction between status and admission in Sanchez v. Mayorkas. It establishes that first-degree criminal mistreatment under Oregon law is categorically a crime involving moral turpitude, permanently disqualifying individuals convicted under that statute from cancellation relief if the offense occurs within seven years of lawful permanent resident status. The ruling reinforces that ineffective assistance claims regarding the timing of offenses will fail if the actual dates fall within the statutory bar period, regardless of counsel's error.
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