Immigration

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Luis Gil-Lopez

Case No.: 15-2650

Officials: MANION and KANNE, Circuit Judges, and PEPPER, District Judge.

Focus: Immigration

Appellant failed to exhaust administrative remedies regarding immigration and removal, and therefore cannot challenge district court’s decision.

“The district court’s decision rested on its determination that Gil‐Lopez’s conviction under Idaho Code §18‐1501(1) was an aggravated felony. The district court found that the statute is divisible, so the court could look to the underlying charging instrument to decide whether Gil‐Lopez’s crime constituted a crime of violence. In his initial brief before this court, Gil‐Lopez focused primarily on the divisibility issue, though he conceded that if he “validly waived the right to appeal the deportation order” in his August 2004 Withdrawal of Reserve of Appeal letter, “then he is barred from challenging it here.” (Appellant’s Br. at 9.) The government had argued below, as it does in this appeal, that Gil‐Lopez’s waiver of appellate rights barred his challenge to the immigration court’s prior removal order, because he did not exhaust his administrative remedies following his conviction. In reply, Gil‐Lopez argued that he did not knowingly sign a waiver of his appellate rights, but he did not cite any evidence showing that he did not sign the withdrawal.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.