Flabio Fuentes v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Flabio de Jesus D. Fuentes, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order denying his motion to remand and dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s order of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to remand and review de novo questions of law. Romero-Ruiz v. Mukasey, 538 F.3d 1057, 1061-62 (9th Cir. 2008). We deny the petition for review.

The BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Fuentes’ motion to remand for consideration of a waiver of inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (h), where the BIA properly concluded that Fuentes was ineligible for such a waiver. Contrary to Fuentes’ contention, he is not eligible for a stand-alone § 1182(h) waiver because he was within the United States, not an applicant for admission, and he did not establish that he was eligible to file a concurrent application for adjustment of status. See Mtoched v. Lynch, 786 F.3d 1210, 1218 (9th Cir. 2015) (deferring to the BIA’s decision in Matter of Rivas, 26 I. & N. Dec. 130, 132-35 (BIA 2013), that a § 1182(h) waiver “for an alien within the United…