## Facts

- Nir Goldeshtein, a native and citizen of Israel, last entered the United States in June 1984.
- He married a U.S. citizen in December 1984 and became a lawful permanent resident in May 1985 based on the marriage.
- In March 1989, he pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to violate federal currency laws and to two counts of structuring transactions to avoid currency-reporting requirements under federal law.
- He received concurrent 40-month prison sentences and was released in February 1991.
- The government initiated deportation proceedings, alleging deportability under INA § 241(a)(4) based on a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) within five years of entry with a sentence of at least one year, and also alleged deportability as an aggravated felon.
- The Immigration Judge found the structuring convictions constituted CIMTs and ordered deportation; the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed.
- Goldeshtein petitioned for review in the Ninth Circuit; additional consolidated petitions challenged denials of reopening.

## Issues

1. Whether a federal conviction for structuring financial transactions to avoid currency-reporting requirements, in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5324(a)(3) and related provisions, categorically constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude under the INA.
2. Whether, if structuring is not a CIMT, the deportation order predicated on the CIMT ground must be reversed and the proceedings terminated.
3. Whether consolidated petitions challenging denials of reopening remain justiciable after resolution of the principal petition.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit granted the principal petition for review.
- The court held that structuring financial transactions to evade currency-reporting requirements is not a CIMT.
- The court reversed the BIA’s decision and remanded with instructions to terminate the deportation proceedings.
- The court dismissed the consolidated petitions challenging denials of reopening as moot.

## Legal Principles

- CIMT analysis focuses on the statutory elements and the inherent nature of the offense, not the noncitizen’s specific underlying conduct.
- An offense is not a CIMT when its elements do not necessarily involve fraud, deceit, or other conduct recognized as inherently morally reprehensible.
- Currency-reporting evasion through structuring may be a regulatory violation, but absent elements requiring fraudulent or evil intent, it is not categorically a CIMT for immigration purposes.
- When the government’s charged ground of deportability depends on a CIMT classification that fails as a matter of law, the resulting deportation order cannot stand.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit ruled that federal currency-structuring offenses do not categorically qualify as crimes involving moral turpitude, reversed the removal determination resting on that classification, and directed termination of the deportation case, rendering related reopening challenges moot.


Goldeshtein v. I.N.S., 8 F.3d 645 (9th Cir. 1993)