Nature of the Case
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Facts
D is a native and citizen of Mexico. He was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 2000. In 2009, he pleaded no contest in the Superior Court of California to a statutory rape offense: “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is more than three years younger than the perpetrator,” Cal. Penal Code Ann. §261.5(c). California defines a “minor” as “a person under the age of 18 years.” DHS initiated removal proceedings against that conviction. The Immigration Judge concluded that the conviction qualified as “sexual abuse of a minor,” 8 U.S.C. §1101(a)(43)(A), and ordered D removed to Mexico. The Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) dismissed his appeal. “For a statutory rape offense involving a 16- or 17-year-old victim” to qualify as “‘sexual abuse of a minor,’” it reasoned, “the statute must require a meaningful age difference between the victim and the perpetrator.” It held that a 3-year age difference required by Cal. Penal Code §261.5(c) was meaningful. A divided Court of Appeals denied review, deferring to the Board’s interpretation of sexual abuse of a minor under Chevron U.S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (2016)
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