Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder

Under the Immigration & Nationality Act (INA), conviction of an "aggravated felony" makes long-term permanent resident aliens ineligible for a form of discretionary relief from removal known as "cancellation of removal." Over the last two decades, Congress has slowly but surely expanded the definition of "aggravated felony" to punish immigrants convicted of crimes, revealing the deep unpopularity of "criminal aliens" among the public and policymakers. As a result, since 1996, the nation has deported hundreds of thousands of immigrants each year.

In 2006, the Court in Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. 47 (2006) held that a state felony drug possession conviction that would not have been a felony under federal law was not an "aggravated felony": Since "Congress generally treats possession alone as a misdemeanor whatever the amount," a possession conviction does not ordinarily constitute an "aggravated felony." Last Term, the Supreme Court decided three of four immigration cases in favor of the immigrant. The single victory for the government came in Nijhawan v. Holder, 129 S. Ct. 2294 (2009), in which the Court ruled that the immigration court correctly inquired into the underlying facts of a state fraud conviction in concluding that the monetary loss to the victims exceeded $10,000, which was necessary to make the crime an "aggravated felony" under the INA.

In Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder, the Court must address the complex question whether a state misdemeanor conviction for drug possession amounts to an aggravated felony. A lawful permanent resident with four U.S. citizen children, Jose Angel Carachuri-Rosendo entered the United States from Mexico in 1993. He was convicted in the Texas courts for (1) misdemeanor possession of marijuana, for which he was sentenced to 20 days in jail; and (2) misdemeanor possession of one tablet of Xanax, for which he was sentenced to ten days in jail.