Last week, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled that the unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon under 8 USC 922(g) is an aggravated felony under the Act. In Matter of Oppedisano, 26 I&N Dec. 202 (BIA 2013), a native of Italy was admitted to the US as a permanent resident on September 9, 1973. Id. He was convicted of unlawful possession of ammunition by a convicted felon under 8 USC 922(g) in 2012 and sentenced to probation for 5 years and fined $15000. Id. at 203. He was placed in removal proceedings and charged as an aggravated felon under 101(a)(43)(E)(ii) and was ordered deported by the immigration judge.
Upon appeal, Oppedisano argued that his conviction was not an offense under 101(a)(43)(E)(ii) since it did not relate to a “firearms offense” since the parenthetical in the section created a limiting clause. The Board reasoned that the offense related to a firearms offense since the quotations did not limit the offenses for which an alien could be deported. Id. at 204. The Board added that Congressional, ascertained from the language of the statute, was not to limit the offenses under the section since it did not use restrictive language in the law. Id. The Board upheld the removal order for these reasons.