Crisanto Carino RAGASA, Petitioner, v. Eric H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General, Respondent.
No. 12-72262.
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Feb. 24, 2014.
Maria Corazon Avinante, Law Office of M. Cora Avinante, Honolulu, HI, for Petitioner.
Theodore William Atkinson, Esquire, Trial, Suzanne Nardone, OIL, Yanal H. Yousef, Trial, DOJ-U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, Chief Counsel ICE, Office of the Chief Counsel Department of Homeland Security, San Francisco, CA, for Respondent.
Before: HAWKINS, McKEOWN, and BEA, Circuit Judges.
ORDER
For the reasons to be set forth in a disposition to follow, we deny petitioner Ragasa’s claim for citizenship. However, we grant the petition for review because his Hawaii state conviction does not constitute a predicate offense for purposes of removability under Section 237(a)(2)(B)(i) of the INA. Therefore, we order the United States to release Ragasa from custody forthwith.