COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
Cesar Solis-Flores – Appellant
Versus
Merrick Garland – Respondent
PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 22-1147
CESAR SOLIS-FLORES,
Petitioner,
v.
MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Argued: December 6, 2022 Decided: September 11, 2023
Before DIAZ, Chief Judge, and RUSHING and HEYTENS, Circuit Judges.
Petition for review denied in part, granted in part, and remanded by published opinion. Judge Rushing wrote the opinion, in which Chief Judge Diaz and Judge Heytens joined.
ARGUED: Benjamin Ross Winograd, IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE APPELLATE CENTER, LLC, Alexandria, Virginia, for Petitioner. Sarah Kathleen Pergolizzi, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. ON BRIEF: Lisa T. Johnson-Firth, VANDERPOOL, FROSTICK & NISHANIAN, PC, Manassas, Virginia, for Petitioner. Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, David J. Schor, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. USCA4 Appeal: 22-1147 Doc: 67 Filed: 09/11/2023 Pg: 2 of 13
RUSHING, Circuit Judge:
Cesar Solis-Flores, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of a final
order of removal entered by the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Board determined
that Solis-Flores was ineligible for cancellation of removal because his prior conviction for
receipt of stolen property was a crime involving moral turpitude. We agree and so deny
the petition for review in part. The Board also held that the immigration judge (IJ) provided
Solis-Flores with legally adequate notice of the conditions applicable to his voluntary
departure. We disagree and so grant the petition in part and remand to the Board to consider
Solis-Flores’s request for a remand to the IJ for a new period of voluntary departure.
I.
In 2012, the Department of Homeland Security issued Solis-Flores a notice to
appear, charging that he was removable as an alien present in the United States without
having been admitted or paroled. Solis-Flores admitted he was removable as charged and
applied for cancellation of removal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b). After conducting a hearing,
the IJ concluded that Solis-Flores was not eligible for cancellation of removal because he
had previously been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. See 8 U.S.C.
§§ 1229b(b)(1)(C), 1227(a)(2)(A)(i). Specifically, Solis-Flores had a 2000 conviction for
receiving stolen property in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-108. But the IJ granted
Solis-Flores the privilege of voluntary departure in lieu of removal. See 8 U.S.C.
§ 1229c(b).
Solis-Flores appealed to the Board. Reviewing de novo, the Board held that his
conviction for receipt of stolen property was a crime involving moral turpitude and
2 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1147 Doc: 67 Filed: 09/11/2023 Pg: 3 of 13
therefore Solis-Flores was ineligible for cancellation of removal. The Board declined to
reinstate voluntary departure or remand to the IJ for that purpose because Solis-Flores had
not posted the required bond despite receiving proper notice of his obligation to do so. In
reaching that conclusion, the Board held that the relevant regulation did not requ
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