KWONG V. HOLDER

9th Circuit

Kwong v. Holder (9th Circuit, December 7, 2011)

CANBY, Smith, Bea

Summary: The Ninth Circuit affirmed the agency’s determination that the petitioner’s burglary conviction under California Penal Code § 459 constituted an “aggravated felony.” The Court affirmed the agency’s reliance on the abstract of the state court’s judgment that indicated that the petitioner had been convicted for first-degree burglary under the statute. United Statesv. Snellenberger, 548 F.3d 699 (9th

Cir. 2008) (en banc)The Court rejected that the recent Ninth Circuit en banc decision in United States v. Aguila-Montes de Oca, 655 F.3d 915 (9th Cir. 2011) applied, and instead reaffirmed its decision in Lopez-Cardona v. Holder, 2011 WL 5607634 (9th Cir. Nov. 18, 2011) that first degree burglary under § 459 is a crime of violence.

Read the opinion here.