ELFIDO GONZALEZ CASTILLO v. PAMELA BONDI, Attorney General - Articles

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ELFIDO GONZALEZ CASTILLO v. PAMELA BONDI, Attorney General

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 18, 2025

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Benjamin R. Winograd, IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE APPELLATE CENTER, LLC, Alexandria, Virginia, for Petitioner.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Alanna Thanh Duong, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Benjamin R. Winograd, IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE APPELLATE CENTER, LLC, Alexandria, Virginia, for Petitioner.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Lindsay Marshall, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

Judge(s): SUTTON, Chief Judge; CLAY and THAPAR, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: On Petition for Review from the Board of Immigration Appeals

SUTTON, Chief Judge. Elfido Gonzalez Castillo illegally entered the United States and eventually applied for citizenship. He succeeded, but only because he failed to disclose a recent indictment for sexually abusing his niece. Shortly after becoming a citizen, Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the offense. Years later, the government revoked Gonzalez’s citizenship due to his lie. It then tried to deport him based on a statute that renders removable “[a]ny alien who at any time after admission is convicted of a crime of . . . child abuse.” 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i). An immigration judge ordered him removed, as did the Board of Immigration Appeals. But because Gonzalez was a citizen, not an alien, when his conviction occurred, and because the Supreme Court has rejected a similar argument, we grant his petition for review.

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