Roberto Serrano v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Roberto Serrano, a Mexican citizen who is a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) of the United States, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) order which ordered his removal based on its decision that he was not admissible when he sought to return to this country after a brief trip abroad. We grant the petition and remand.

Serrano entered the United States without inspection in 1963 and pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in 1973. See 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). In 1983, he adjusted his status based on his marriage to a United States citizen and became an LPR. After a brief trip to Mexico in 2006, he was stopped and inspected by Customs and Border Protection and he admitted that he had been convicted of the 1973 drug of fense. He was then told that he appeared to be inadmissible and that his inspection was deferred. These removal proceedings commenced on January 22, 2007, and, ultimately, the government asserted that he was removable because the drug offense conviction rendered him inadmissible, as did his lack of a valid entry document and his fraud or misrepresentation. The Immigration Judge and the BIA…