IMMIGRATION LAW & POLICY

Removal Issues Concerning Criminal Convictions

 

 

MATTER OF PUENTE-SALAZAR:  BIA RULES TEXAS DWI CONVICTION IS AGGRAVATED FELONY
Immigrants’ Rights Update, Vol. 13, No. 6, October 14, 1999

The Board of Immigration Appeals has issued a precedent decision finding that a conviction for driving while intoxicated (DWI), sentenced as a felony, constitutes an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act.  The decision upholds the BIA’s prior decision in Matter of Magallanes, Int. Dec. 3341 (BIA 1998).

The principal issue in this case was whether the respondent’s DWI conviction constitutes a "crime of violence."  The Texas statute under which the respondent was convicted prohibits "operating" a vehicle under the influence—which means a person can be convicted under the statute even if he or she is not actually driving the vehicle.  The respondent and several organizations that submitted amicus briefs argued that a conviction under this statute does not necessarily encompass conduct that poses a substantial risk of the use of physical force to the extent necessary to constitute a crime of violence.  However, the BIA disagreed, finding that the conviction is sufficient to satisfy the INA’s definition of a crime of violence because operating a motor vehicle while under the influence "may" create a substantial risk that physical force will be applied to cause injury.  Accordingly, the BIA concluded that the respondent’s conviction constituted an aggravated felony.

Matter of Puente-Salazar, Int. Dec. 3412 (BIA Sep. 29, 1999).

 

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