Jefferson Tinkam v. Eric Holder, Jr.
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Jefferson D. Tinkam, a native and citizen of Costa Rica, petitions pro se for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s removal order. Our jurisdiction is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review de novo questions of law. Reyes-Alcaraz v. Ashcroft, 368 F.3d 937 , 939 (9th Cir.2004). We deny in part and dismiss in part the petition for review.
The BIA correctly concluded that Tin-kam did not derive U.S. citizenship from his adoptive parents, where neither he nor his adoptive parents applied for a certificate of naturalization before he turned eighteen years old, as the law in effect at the time required. See Mustanich v. Mukasey, 518 F.3d 1084, 1086 (9th Cir.2008) (explaining that former 8 U.S.C. § 1433 (a)(3) required every foreign-born alien adopted by a U.S. citizen to “apply for naturalization prior to his eighteenth birthday”); see also Romero-Mendoza v. Holder, 665 F.3d 1105, 1107 (9th Cir.2011) (“[Djerivative citizenship is determined under the law in effect at time [sic] the critical events giving rise to the eligibility occurred.” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)).