(B)  Aggravated Felony.  Although the aggravated felony ground of deportation does not mention any non-substantive offenses,[275] the aggravated felony definition specifically states that a conviction for attempt or conspiracy to commit an aggravated felony is itself an aggravated felony.[276]  Counsel can therefore argue, for example, that a conviction for solicitation to commit an aggravated felony drug offense is not an aggravated felony.[277]  See § 19.13-19.20, supra.

[275] INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii).

[276] INA § 101(a)(43)(U), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(U). 

[277] United States v. Rivera-Sanchez, 247 F.3d 905 (9th Cir. 2001) (offer to sell is equivalent to solicitation, which is not listed in aggravated felony statute); Leyva-Licea v. INS, 187 F.3d 1147 (9th Cir. 1999) (Arizona conviction for solicitation to possess marijuana for sale in violation of Ariz. Rev. Stat. § § 13-1002(A) & 13-3405(A)(2)(B)(5), did not constitute an aggravated felony under INA § 101(a)(43)(B), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(B), or trigger deportation, since the Controlled Substances Act neither mentions solicitation nor contains any broad catch-all provision that could even arguably be read to cover solicitation); but see Matter of Beltran, 20 I. & N. Dec. 521 (BIA 1992) (solicitation to commit a controlled substances offense falls within the deportation ground as a crime relating to a controlled substance).

BIA

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES - DRUG OFFENSES NOT PUNISHED UNDER FEDERAL LAW MAY STILL TRIGGER INADMISSIBILITY
Matter of Martinez-Espinoza, 25 I. & N. Dec. 118 (BIA Nov. 4, 2009) ("section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the Act does not require that a State offense be punishable under Federal law in order to support a charge of inadmissibility. Section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) does contain the parenthetical phrase "as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)," but this phrase modifies only its immediate antecedent (i.e., "controlled substance"), not the whole text of the section."), following Escobar Barraza v. Mukasey, 519 F.3d 388 (7th Cir. 2008).

Third Circuit

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES " FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT VIOLATIONS
Borrome v. Attorney General of the United States, 687 F.3d 150 (3d Cir. Jul. 18, 2012) (federal conviction for unauthorized wholesale distribution in interstate commerce of prescription drugs, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 331(t), 353(e), is not a controlled substances violation for purposes of triggering deportation under INA 237(a)(2)(B)(i)), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(B)(i).

Other

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES " COUNTERFEIT DRUG OFFENSES IN LIEU OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
Practice Advisory, Su Yon Yi and Katherine Brady, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Burn Statutes and Counterfeit Drug Offenses (2015), see ILRC.org (discussing Matter of Sanchez-Cornejo, 25 I&N Dec. 273 (BIA 2010) (the offense of delivery of a simulated controlled substance in violation of Texas law is not an aggravated felony, as defined by INA 101(a)(43)(B), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(B) (2006), but it is a violation of a law relating to a controlled substance under former INA 241(a)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. 125l(a)(2)(B)(i) (1994))