Safe Havens

(B)  Safe Havens Specific to this Category.  The ground specifies “receipt of stolen property . . . .” [719]  Some state statutes, such as California’s, prohibit receipt of property obtained by theft or extortion.  This type of statute would therefore be divisible with respect to this category of aggravated felony, since receipt of property obtained by extortion is not the same as property obtained by theft.  If the record of conviction does not specify which elements formed part of the conviction in the case, then the government cannot establish that the conviction is an aggravated felony.  Moreover, some state statutes defining theft, like that of California, have been declared overbroad with respect to the aggravated felony definition of theft.  See § 7.103, infra.  California’s theft statute prohibits aiding and abetting, causing a false credit report, and theft of services, none of which are part of aggravated felony theft.  In such a state, a conviction of receipt of stolen property, which presumably means property obtained by theft, will also be divisible for the same reasons a theft conviction would be divisible.  Unless the record of conviction establishes that the conviction for receiving stolen property was under an element that meets the federal definition of theft, the government cannot establish the conviction triggers deportation under this ground.

[719] INA § 101(a)(43)(G), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(G) (emphasis supplied).