Melendez

MEMORANDUM

In these consolidated petitions for review, Roberto Melendez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) orders dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s removal order and denying his motion to reconsider. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review de novo questions of law, and review for abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to reconsider. Mohammed v. Gonzales, 400 F.3d 785, 791-92 (9th Cir.2005). We deny in part and grant in part the petition for review in No. 04-74261 and remand for further proceedings, and we deny the petition for review in No. 04-75089.

The BIA correctly concluded that the government was not precluded by res judi-cata from initiating removal proceedings against Melendez. See Paulo v. Holder, 669 F.3d 911, 917 (9th Cir.2011) (the party seeking to apply res judicata must show that “the first proceeding ended with a final judgment on the merits” regarding the issue in question) (citation omitted). However, Melendez’s conviction under California Penal Code § 10851(a) is not categorically an aggravated felony theft offense, see United States v. Vidal, 504 F.3d 1072,…