The Board of Immigration Appeals has dismissed the appeal of a Mexican lawful permanent resident found removable for unlawfully voting in a 2012 federal election, who was also denied cancellation of removal as a matter of discretion after he invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege rather than answer questions about a prior DUI conviction and a pending DUI arrest.
The Board held that removability for unlawful voting under 18 U.S.C. § 611(a) does not require proof the respondent knew voting was unlawful, since the statute is a general intent crime, and upheld the removability finding based on the respondent's own sworn admissions. On discretion, the Board held that while a respondent has every right to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination, an immigration judge may draw reasonable adverse inferences from a refusal to provide testimony material to discretionary relief, and held that unlawful voting is a significant adverse discretionary factor given Congress's evident concern for the integrity of the electoral process.
The full text of Matter of Lopez Rico can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1453751/dl?inline