Background

• Petitioner William Ernesto Jimenez Bolanos, a Salvadoran LPR, pleaded guilty to violating Cal. Penal Code § 417.3 (brandishing a firearm at an occupant of a motor vehicle) and received a 16‑month sentence plus a stayed 2‑year term tied to gang enhancements.
• DHS charged removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(C) based on the firearm conviction; Petitioner admitted facts but sought cancellation of removal, asylum, withholding, and CAT relief.
• The IJ held the § 417.3 conviction was a “crime of violence” under 18 U.S.C. § 16 and thus an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(F), rendering Petitioner ineligible for cancellation and asylum; the IJ denied withholding and CAT on the merits.
• The BIA issued its own reasoned decision affirming that § 417.3 qualifies under § 16(a) and § 16(b), emphasizing the threatened use of force and substantial risk of force in the statute’s elements.
• Petitioner sought review; the court limited its review to legal questions and its own jurisdiction and reviewed de novo whether § 417.3 is categorically a crime of violence.
• The Ninth Circuit held § 417.3 categorically fits 18 U.S.C. § 16(a) because it requires intentionally drawing/exhibiting a firearm in a threatening manner against another person such that a reasonable person would fear bodily harm, and dismissed the petition.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Reyes-Alcaraz v. Ashcroft, 363 F.3d 937 (9th Cir.) (holding exhibiting a deadly weapon with intent to evade arrest categorically a crime of violence)
• United States v. King, 673 F.3d 274 (4th Cir.) (pointing/presenting a firearm in a threatening manner qualifies as a crime of violence)
• United States v. Pulliam, 566 F.3d 784 (8th Cir.) (displaying an operational weapon in a threatening manner is threatened use of force)
• United States v. Lane, 252 F.3d 905 (7th Cir.) (active use/pointing of a gun is a crime of violence)
• United States v. Melchor-Meceno, 620 F.3d 1180 (9th Cir.) (menacing with a deadly weapon contains threatened use of force)
• United States v. Jennen, 596 F.3d 594 (9th Cir.) (placing someone in apprehension of bodily harm with a deadly weapon requires threatened use of force)
• United States v. De la Fuente, 353 F.3d 766 (9th Cir.) (creating fear of unlawful injury includes threatened use of physical force)
• Covarrubias Teposte v. Holder, 632 F.3d 1049 (9th Cir.) (distinguishable; analyzed § 16(b) and involved potentially empty-structure shootings)
• Leocal v. Ashcroft, 543 U.S. 1 (2004) (statutory terms construed by ordinary meaning in categorical analyses)
• Descamps v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 2276 (2013) (modified categorical approach inapplicable to indivisible-offense statutes)