Santos

MEMORANDUM

Manuel and Yeni Santos, natives and citizens of Mexico, petition pro se for review of the final decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissing their appeal of an immigration judge’s denial of their applications for suspension of deportation. Pursuant to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”), the transitional rules apply, see Kalaw v. INS, 133 F.3d 1147, 1150 (9th Cir.1997), and we therefore have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a), as amended by IIRIRA § 309(c), see Avetova-Elisseva v. INS, 213 F.3d 1192 , 1195 n. 4 (9th Cir.2000). We deny the petition for review.

Petitioners contend that the “stop-time rule” — a new continuous physical presence requirement set forth in IIRIRA — cannot be applied to them because they are in deportation proceedings and the new rule *648 applies only to applicants in removal proceedings. This contention is without merit. See Ram v. INS, No. 99-70918, 2001 WL 173309 , at *3, *5 (9th Cir. Feb. 8, 2001).

Petitioners’ contention that the stop-time rule violates equal protection is also without merit. See id. at *7.

We do not consider petitioner’s eligibility, if any, for relief…