Oscar Rene Perdomo Ulloa entered the U.S. without authorization in 2000 and was convicted in 2012 of a Virginia Class 1 misdemeanor for using another person's identity to obtain money with intent to defraud. The conviction carried a maximum sentence of 12 months in jail, though Perdomo Ulloa received only a suspended 30-day sentence. DHS initiated removal proceedings, and Perdomo Ulloa applied for cancellation of removal but was denied due to his criminal conviction.
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote for the panel that Virginia's distinction between 12-month misdemeanor sentences and one-year felony sentences was "irrelevant for purposes of federal immigration law." The court emphasized that "Congress could have chosen to target felonies" but instead "focused on crimes punishable by 'a sentence of one year or longer.'" Wilkinson rejected Perdomo Ulloa's argument that "one year or longer" should be read as "more than one year," stating this interpretation "flouts the clear and unambiguous language" of the statute.
The Board of Immigration Appeals had affirmed the Immigration Judge's denial of cancellation of removal and later denied Perdomo Ulloa's motion for reconsideration based on a 2022 Virginia Court of Appeals decision in Belcher v. Commonwealth. Perdomo Ulloa filed two petitions for review with the Fourth Circuit, challenging both BIA decisions. At oral argument, he conceded that his conviction was categorically a crime involving moral turpitude.
The decision aligns the Fourth Circuit with the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits, which have similarly held that crimes carrying exactly one-year sentences fall within the immigration statute's scope. The ruling reinforces that federal immigration consequences turn on sentence length rather than state law classifications of crimes as misdemeanors or felonies.