Mungarro-Coronado

MEMORANDUM *

Petitioner Oscar Mungarro-Coronado, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review from the BIA’s decision finding him statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(a), because he lacked the ten years of continuous presence required under the Illegal Immigration' Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) prior to being served with a Notice to Appear (NTA). Petitioner had turned himself into the INS and was issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) on February 10,1997, approximately 8]é years after he entered the United States. The OSC was never filed with the immigration court, and on June 6, 1997, the INS served a NTA and placed petitioner in removal proceedings. Petitioner contends he is entitled to the benefit of suspension of deportation relief under pre-IIRIRA law.

Under IIRIRA’s transitional rules, pre-IIRIRA law applies to aliens “in exclusion or deportation proceedings as of [April 1, 1997].” IIRIRA § 309(c)(1). Thus, the first issue is whether deportation proceedings were commenced when the INS served petitioner with the OSC in February 1997 or when the INS filed the NTA with the immigration court in June 1997. We…