Veronica Canar Yanez v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

veronica Cañar Yanez, a native and citizen of Ecuador, petitions for review of an order from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying her application for adjustment of status, and an Immigration Judge’s denial of her request for voluntary departure. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (d) to consider Cañar Ya-nez’s administratively exhausted claims. We dismiss in part and deny in part Cañar Yanez’s petition.

1. To establish eligibility for adjustment of status an alien must prove she “is eligible to receive an immigrant visa and is admissible to the United States for permanent residence.” . 8 U.S.C. § 1255 (a)(2) (eligibility); see also 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(e)(4)(A)(i) (burden of proof). Here, evidence indicates that Cañar Yanez is permanently inadmissible for having “falsely represented ... herself to be a citizen of the United States.” 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(6)(C)(ii)(I). Cañar Yanez argues she did not falsely represent herself to be a citizen because she could have been claiming to be a non-citizen national by applying for a passport using a Puerto Rican birth certificate. This argument im-permissibly shifts the burden of proof. See 8 C.F.R. § 1240.8 (d) (“If…