Jorge Rivera Vega v. Merrick Garland

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

JORGE RIVERA VEGA, No. 19-71750 Petitioner, Agency No. v. A022-870-507

MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, OPINION Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of an Immigration Judge

Argued and Submitted March 11, 2022 Pasadena, California

Filed July 8, 2022

Before: Sandra S. Ikuta, Kenneth K. Lee, and Danielle J. Forrest, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Lee SUMMARY *

Immigration

Denying Jorge Rivera Vega’s petition for review of an order of an Immigration Judge, the panel held that: 1) the permanent inadmissibility bar of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) applied retroactively to Rivera Vega such that he was ineligible for adjustment of status; 2) his prior removal order was properly reinstated; 3) his statutory right to counsel in reasonable fear proceedings was not violated; and 4) the IJ properly rejected his claim for protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).

Rivera Vega was deported in 1991, but illegally re- entered the next…