Molales v. Apolinar v. Mukasey
Opinion
Opinion
BACKGROUND
Morales is a twenty-eight year-old native and citizen of Mexico. She testified that she first entered the United States
1 Notably, this is not the first time that we have addressed an ineffective assistance of counsel claim involving Valinoti and his law firm. See, e.g., Baltazar-Alcazar v. INS, 386 F.3d 940 (9th Cir. 2004); Escobar-Grijalva v. INS, 206 F.3d 1331 (9th Cir. 2000); Hernadez Lucena v. Gonzales, 215 F. App’x 627 (9th Cir. 2006). MORALES APOLINAR v. MUKASEY 1211 in December 1986 without inspection and has not left since. She is the single mother of two native-born United States citi- zen children, Luis Angel Luna Morales, age eleven, and Karla Luna Morales, age nine. Neither child can read or write Span- ish. Morales testified that her youngest child, Karla, has asthma and has undergone surgery for a neck tumor. She also testified that Karla takes medication four times a day and receives monthly medical visits. Morales and her children live with extended family members, including Morales’s mother and grandparents. Morales began working as a babysitter in 1996 and as a self-employed housekeeper in 1999.