Understanding BIA’s Recent Crime-Related Rulings
Following Matter of Lopez-Meza, the BIA ruled that the offense of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree in violation of §511(3)(a)(i) of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law is categorically a crime involving moral turpitude.
The BIA also ruled that the “offense clause” of the federal conspiracy statute, 18 USC §371, is divisible and the underlying substantive crime—selling counterfeit currency in violation of 18 USC §473 in this instance—is an element of the offense.
