Pennsylvania Immigration Lawyer Rosina C. Stambaugh represented the petitioner, Louis Rosario-Ovando, in the case of Louis Rosario-Ovando v. Attorney General of The United States of America.
Petitioner Louis Rosario-Ovando faced removal from the United States because of his conviction under Pennsylvania’s felony fleeing or eluding statute within five years of his arrival in this country. Both the Immigration Judge and Board of Immigration Appeals determined this conviction was for a “crime involving moral turpitude.”
The court determined that because the least culpable conduct criminalized by the three aggravating elements of Pennsylvania’s felony fleeing or eluding statute is not a crime involving moral turpitude, 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i), Mr. Rosario-Ovando’s crime of conviction does not provide a basis for removal. They rejected the Government’s request for a remand so the Board could apply the modified categorical approach because they had resolved the legal issue and because remand for further consideration of the record would be futile. Mr. Rosario-Ovando’s petition was granted.
Read the full Opinion here.