Sarmadi

We must decide whether we have jurisdiction to review a Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of a motion to reopen deportation proceedings where an alien has been ordered deported on account of his conviction for certain crimes.

I

Seffatollah Sarmadi is a forty-three year old native and citizen of Iran. He arrived in the United States in 1973 to receive training as a member of the Iranian Air Force. He deserted the Iranian Air Force later that year and remained in the United States. In 1981, Sarmadi married a woman who eventually became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1982. Sarmadi became a lawful permanent resident in 1983.

In 1985, Sarmadi was convicted of two counts of indecent liberties pursuant to Washington State law. Wash. Rev.Code § 9A 44.100(l)(a) and (b) (1979). The first violation occurred on December 22,1984, and the second on February 9,1985, involving the minor daughters of Mrs. Sarmadi, Seffatollah’s stepdaughters. He was sentenced to twenty months incarceration on the first count and twenty-one months on the second count, terms running concurrently. Sarmadi served sixteen months.

In a Superseding Order to Show Cause dated June 6, 1986, the Immigration and…