Pichardo
Pichardo v. Immigration & Naturalization Service
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Lay, J.
ORDER
The court’s opinion filed September 7, 1999, and reported' at 188 F.3d 1079 (9th Cir.1999), is vacated and withdrawn.
With the filing of this opinion, the panel now affirms the Board of Immigration Appeals’ finding that Pichardo was inadmissible under the Immigration and Nationality Act in light of his conviction for making a false claim to United States citizenship.
OPINION
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 40(a), the panel hereby grants the government’s petition for rehearing, withdraws the previous panel opinion dated September 7, 1999, and substitutes the following opinion.
Erwin Pichardo (“Pichardo”), a citizen of Nicaragua, appeals from a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA” or “Board”) upholding an Immigration Judge’s (“I J”) finding that he was inadmissible and subject to removal from the United States. The BIA articulated two grounds to support its holding: first, a finding that the immigration officer knew or had reason to believe Pichardo was a drug trafficker under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) section 212(a)(2)(C), 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(2)(C); second, Pichardo’s conviction for misrepresenting that he was a citizen of…