Antonia Tavares Dodig v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Opinion
Opinion
Kleinfeld, J.
Petitioner conceded deportability, asked for a six month delay, and got it. She appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), arguing that the immigration judge should have granted her husband’s unadjudi-cated petition to obtain immediate relative preference for her. Her husband had died before the petition was adjudicated. The BIA held that the immigration judge lacked jurisdiction to grant the petition. We affirm.
Petitioner entered the United States and shortly thereafter married an American citizen. Her husband petitioned for preference for her as an “immediate relative,” because she was the spouse of a citizen. 8 U.S.C. § 1154 (a)(1); 8 U.S.C. § 1151 (b). Unfortunately, he died before the petition was adjudicated.
We review the BIA decision construing the law de novo, albeit with deference to the agency’s interpretation of a statute it is charged with administering. Ayala-Chavez v. INS, 944 F.2d 638, 641 (9th Cir.1991); Salehpour v. INS, 761 F.2d 1442, 1445 (9th Cir.1985). The BIA construed 8 C.F.R. §§ 103.1 (n) and 245.2(a)(5) to preclude the immigration judge and the BIA from granting relief on such an unadjudicated petition. We agree.