FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION DEC 26 2012
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
HORACIO MUNOZ TENA, No. 08-74714
Petitioner, Agency No. A078-445-334
v.
MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Argued and Submitted December 5, 2012
Pasadena, California
Before: WARDLAW, BEA, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges.
Horacio Munoz Tena, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of
the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing his appeal from an
immigration judge’s decision ordering him removed for alien smuggling. See 8
U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(E)(i). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252, and we
deny the petition.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Assuming that Munoz’s testimony was credible, immigration officers’
threats that Munoz would be deported or imprisoned if he did not admit the
charges were coercive, and his inculpatory statements should have been excluded.
Bong Youn Choy v. Barber, 279 F.2d 642, 647 (9th Cir. 1960) (suppressing as
involuntary an alien’s statement “obtained by the government by inducing fear
through official threats of prosecution”). Nevertheless, substantial evidence
supports the agency's alternative holding that Munoz is removable due to alien
smuggling even excluding any reliance upon his coerced statements. The record
reflects that Munoz’s wife admitted that Munoz helped her plan and execute the
smuggling attempt. This evidence is sufficient to establish the elements of
Munoz’s smuggling charge. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(E)(i); Aguilar Gonzalez v.
Mukasey, 534 F.3d 1204, 1208-09 (9th Cir. 2008).
PETITION DENIED.
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