Lucio-Rayos v. Sessions

875 F.3d 573
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedNovember 14, 2017
Docket15-9584
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 875 F.3d 573 (Lucio-Rayos v. Sessions) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lucio-Rayos v. Sessions, 875 F.3d 573 (10th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

EBEL, Circuit Judge.-

The question- presented in this petition for -review is whether Petitioner Juan Alberto Lucio-Rayos’s municipal theft conviction qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude (“CIMT”), which would make him ineligible for cancellation of. removal. Lucio-Rayos was convicted under a divisible municipal code provision that sets forth several different theft, offenses, some ■ of which qualify as CIMTs and some of which do not. Applying the modified categorical approach, it is not possible to tell which theft offense was the basis of Lucio-Ra-yos’s conviction. However, because it is Lucio-Rayos’s burden to establish his eligibility for cancellation of removal, he bears the brunt of. this inconclusive record. We, therefore, uphold, the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”)’s determination that Lucio-Rayos has not shown that he is eligible for cancellation of removal We also conclude that the immigration judge (“I J”) did not deprive Lucio-Rayos of due process by refusing to recuse from hearing his case. Thus, having jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. §'1252(a)(2)(D), we DENY Lucio-Rayos’s petition for review. 2

I. BACKGROUND

Lucio-Rayos, a citizen of Mexico who entered the United States without authorization, conceded that he is subject to removal, but seeks discretionary relief from the Attorney General in the form of cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b). The IJ ruled that Lucio-Rayos is not eligible to apply for cancellation of removal because his prior theft conviction under the Westminster, Colorado Municipal Code, WMC 6-3-l(A), is for a CIMT. The BIA affirmed. Lucio-Rayos has petitioned this court to review the BIA’s decision. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We have jurisdiction to consider his constitutional claims and questions of law involving statutory construction. Id § 1252(a)(2)(D); see Flores-Molina v. Sessions, 850 F.3d 1150, 1157 (10th Cir. 2017). We review these matters de novo, although in appropriate circumstances we may defer to the BIA’s interpretation of the immigration laws it implements. See Flores-Molina, 850 F.3d at 1157.

II. DISCUSSION

A. The IJ did not deprive Lucio-Rayos of due process by refusing to recuse

As an initial matter, Lucio-Rayos contends that the IJ erred in refusing to recuse from considering Lucio-Rayos’s case because the IJ’s spouse is one of two supervising Deputy Chief Counsel for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) office in Denver, the office which initiated this removal proceeding against Lucio-Rayos. 3 The BIA rejected this argument. We do, too.

Lucio-Rayos’s recusal argument is essentially a due process claim, which we review de novo. See Hassan v. Holder, 604 F.3d 915, 923 (6th Cir. 2010). He is entitled to a full and fair removal hearing that comports with due process. See Kapcia v. INS, 944 F.2d 702, 705 (10th Cir. 1991) (quoting Vissian v. I.N.S., 548 F.2d 325, 329 (10th Cir. 1977)). That includes a fair and impartial decision-maker. See Vargas-Hernandez v. Gonzales, 497 F.3d 919, 925 (9th Cir. 2007) (citing In re Exame, 18 I. & N. Dec. 303, 306 (BIA 1982)). In order to prevail on his due process claim, Lucio-Rayos must establish both that he was deprived of due process and that that deprivation prejudiced him. 4 See Alzainati v. Holder, 568 F.3d 844, 851 (10th Cir. 2009); see also Hassan, 604 F.3d at 923 (6th Cir.).

Lucio-Rayos has not made such a showing. Generally speaking, an IJ must recuse if 1) she has “a personal, rather than a judicial, bias stemming from an ‘extrajudicial’ source which resulted in an opinion on the merits on some basis other than what the immigration judge learned from [her] participation in the case,” 2) “such pervasive bias and prejudice is shown by otherwise judicial conduct as would constitute bias against a party,” In re Exame, 18 I. & N. Dec. at 306 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Vargas-Hernandez, 497 F.3d at 925 (9th Cir.), or 3) the IJ has an inherent bias, see Hassan, 604 F.3d at 923 (6th Cir.).

Lucio-Rayos presents extrajudicial-influence and inherent-bias arguments, relying by analogy on 28 U.S.C. § 455(a), which requires a federal judge to recuse “in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” 5 However, the record indicates that the Denver ICE office has a plan in place to ensure that the IJ’s spouse has no involvement in cases pending before the IJ. And Lucio-Rayos has not asserted any evidence suggesting that the IJ’s spouse played any role in Lucio-Rayos’s removal proceedings. A reasonable person, knowing these' facts, would not question the IJ’s impartiality to conduct Lucio-Rayos’s removal proceeding. 6

Lucio-Rayos also relies by analogy on 28 U.S.C. § 455(b)(5)(i), which requires a federal judge to recuse if her spouse “[i]s a party to the proceeding, or an officer, director, or trustee of a party.” But that is not the situation presented here. While the IJ’s spouse represents a party to this case, the spouse is not himself a party, nor an officer, director, or trustee of a party.

In addition, Lucio-Rayos has not shown that he was prejudiced by the IJ’s refusal to recuse; that is, Lucio-Rayos has not shown that “his rights were violated in a manner so as potentially to affect the outcome of the proceedings,” Vargas-Hernandez, 497 F.3d at 926 (9th Cir.) (internal quotation marks omitted). We, therefore, uphold the IJ’s refusal to recuse from hearing Lucio-Rayos’s case.

B. The BIA did not err in concluding that Lucio-Rayos is ineligible for cancellation of removal

To be eligible for cancellation of removal, Lucio-Rayos had to meet four requirements. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(l). 7 The only one of those requirements at issue here is whether, under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(l)(C), Lucio-Rayos’s Westminster conviction for theft is a crime involving moral turpitude (“CIMT”) as defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) in 8 U.S.C.

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Bluebook (online)
875 F.3d 573, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lucio-rayos-v-sessions-ca10-2017.