KELLY, Circuit Judge.
In July 2003, Curtis Leonard Fraser, a native and citizen of Canada, married a United States citizen. In January 2006, his wife filed an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative to adjust Fraser's status based on their marriage, and Fraser filed an I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. The petition and application were granted in September 2007 by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. In November 2007, however, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determined that Fraser's application had been approved in error. The DHS believed that in 1991, before entering the United States, Fraser had been convicted in Canada of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. DHS accordingly issued a Notice to Appear.
In July 2010, Fraser appeared before the Immigration Judge (IJ) pursuant to
The IJ then concluded that the documentation presented, in combination, proved by clear and convincing evidence that Fraser had been convicted in Canada of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking before his entry into the United States. The IJ determined that Fraser was therefore inadmissible at the time of his adjustment of status in 2007, see 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) ("[A]ny alien convicted of ... a violation of (or a conspiracy or attempt to violate) any law or regulation of ... a foreign country relating to a controlled substance (as defined in section 802 of title 21), is inadmissible."), and deportable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(A) (An "alien who at the time of entry or adjustment of status was ... inadmissible by the law existing at such time is deportable.").
Fraser moved to terminate his removal proceedings on the grounds that the government failed to prove the prior drug conviction, and to adjust his status to become a lawful permanent resident. The IJ denied the motion, and also denied Fraser's motion to reconsider, thereby sustaining the charge of removability and finding that Fraser was not eligible for adjustment of status. The BIA dismissed Fraser's appeal. Fraser seeks review of the BIA's dismissal of his appeal of the IJ's decisions. Having jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, we deny the petition.
The issue
The primary evidence presented to the IJ to prove the disputed conviction included the Information and Trial Disposition. The government presented certified copies from the Canadian courts of both of these documents. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(3)(B) (stating that a certified copy of certain documents or records "shall constitute proof of a criminal conviction" for purposes of removal proceedings); see also 8 C.F.R. § 287.6(d) (setting forth the appropriate procedure by which a record is certified by a Canadian governmental entity). Fraser nevertheless asserts that these records were insufficient to prove he had been convicted of an offense that rendered him inadmissible. First, the Information was filed in Saskatchewan. The Trial Disposition, in contrast, was filed in Manitoba. Thus, Fraser argues there is not sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that the two documents refer to the same case. Second, the Trial Disposition refers to an "indictment," and the government only provided the IJ with the Information. Without the referenced indictment, Fraser asserts, we cannot know what offense he actually pleaded guilty to, since the Trial Disposition is silent on this issue. Finally, the Information was the only document presented to the IJ that specified cocaine as the drug involved in the conviction.
Fraser fails to acknowledge that the IJ looked to these documents in combination, not in isolation, when assessing whether the government had met its burden. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(3)(A). While the Information and Trial Disposition were indeed filed in two different locations, they were identified with the same case number.
The IJ also relied on these documents to determine what type of drug was involved in Fraser's prior conviction. The Information specified that the offense involved cocaine; the Trial Disposition did not. As we have noted, however, the IJ found that the Trial Disposition set forth the sentence for the charge listed in the Information, with both documents relating to a single conviction for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. Fraser counters that on his I-485 Application (a document also in the administrative record), there are handwritten notes indicating that this 1991 conviction involved marijuana.
Fraser also argues the IJ improperly relied on a police record and pardon documents to determine whether he had been convicted of an offense that made him inadmissible. Fraser asserts that these additional documents are not "documents or records" the statute identifies as ones that "shall constitute proof of a criminal conviction." 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(3)(B); see also 8 C.F.R. § 1003.41(a). The IJ did consider an uncertified police record, which contained Fraser's name and identified a March 22, 1991, conviction for possession of a narcotic for the purpose of trafficking under section 4(2) of the Narcotic Control Act, for which he received a 20-month sentence. The IJ also considered documentation that showed Fraser received a pardon in Canada for a conviction for breach of the Narcotic Control Act with the same date and case number as the Information and the Trial Disposition.
While these additional documents were not of the type that "shall constitute proof of a criminal conviction" under the statute, the regulations allow that "[a]ny other evidence that reasonably indicates the existence of a criminal conviction may be admissible as evidence thereof." 8 C.F.R. § 1003.41(d).
We agree with the IJ that neither the Information nor the Trial Disposition standing alone would be sufficient to prove by clear and convincing evidence that Fraser had a prior Canadian conviction for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. But these documents in combination, coupled with the Canadian statutory definition of indictment, the police record, and the pardon documents, convince us that there is substantial evidence in the record to support the IJ's conclusion. See Sandoval-Loffredo, 414 F.3d at 895-96.
For the reasons above, we deny the petition for review.