Torres-Chavez

Eduardo Torres-Chavez petitions for review of a final order of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). He claims that his concession of alienage before the Immigration Judge was the result of legal representation so egregiously deficient that it violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process. We hold that Torres’s due process rights were not violated by his lawyer’s performance, and accordingly deny his petition for review.

I

Torres entered the United States without authorization in December 1981, at the age of fifteen. In 1987, Torres sought to take advantage of the amnesty provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), Pub.L. No. 99-603, § 201 , 100 Stat. 3359 , 3394 (1986) (codified as amended at section 245A of the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1255a).

IRCA created a one-year window during which aliens who unlawfully entered the United States before January 1,1982 could obtain legal-resident status. See id. § 1255a(a)(l)(A). To obtain temporary residence, an alien was required to apply for a Form 1-688 Temporary Resident Card between May 5, 1987 and May 4, 1988. See 8 C.F.R. § 245a.2(a), (j). An alien who obtained temporary-resident status was then…