Saeed FOROUGHI, Petitioner, v. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent

Petitioner Saeed Foroughi, an alien under a final order of deportation, seeks review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals denying his motion to reopen his deportation proceedings. Foroughi moved to reopen so that the Board could consider his application for discretionary relief under section 212(c) of the Immigration Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (c). To qualify for relief under that statute, Foroughi was required to have been a lawful permanent resident of this country for seven years. The Board held him ineligible because it concluded that his permanent residence status had ended, just short of seven years, when he conceded deportability at his deportation hearing and did not contest the finding of deportability on appeal to the Board.

Foroughi’s primary contention is that, even though he conceded deportability before the Immigration Judge, his appeal of the Immigration Judge’s denial of asylum and withholding of deportation constituted an uninterrupted challenge to the order of deportation during which he accrued credit toward the seven-year requirement of section 212(c). Because he passed the seven-year mark while his administrative appeal was pending, he contends that he…