Castillo-Cruz

I. BACKGROUND

Isidro Castillo-Cruz is a Mexican citizen who entered the United States around March of 1984 without inspection. He is the father of four United States citizen children, Lilibethe, Angel Alexis, Jeanette, and Edward Jesus.

In May 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) served Castillo-Cruz with a notice to appear, charg- ing him with being removable under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) § 212(a)(6)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i), for being present in the United States without being admitted. The Notice to Appear also alleged that he had been convicted of possession of stolen property in violation of Cal. Penal Code § 496 in April 1990. 13476 CASTILLO-CRUZ v. HOLDER Castillo-Cruz admitted the allegations in his Notice to Appear and conceded removability, but sought cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b). In his application for can- cellation of removal, he listed his prior convictions, which included, among others,2 a 1989 petty theft misdemeanor con- viction under Cal. Penal Code § 484/488, and a 1990 convic- tion for receipt of stolen property under Cal. Penal Code § 496.3 The record of conviction showed that…