Lopez

Lopez v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

Good Law
41 F. App'x 940
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitJuly 22, 2002No. 01-71446; INS No. A70-810-319California409 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM ***

The Board of Immigration Appeals did not err in denying Lopez’s application for suspension of deportation. The Board found that Lopez did not satisfy the statutory requirement of seven years of continuous physical presence in the United States before the Order To Show Cause issued in August 1995. This finding is supported by “substantial evidence,” see Kalaw v. INS, 133 F.3d 1147, 1151 (9th Cir.1997), because Lopez had earlier stated in an asylum application that he first ax-rived in the United States on September 25, 1991, too late to have allowed him to accrue the seven years required to qualify *941 for suspension relief. Although Lopez now argues that the date on the sworn asylum application was incorrect and that the real date of first arrival was June 1988, other evidence contradicts this assertion. For example, the Board pointed to a Guatemalan identity card issued to Lopez in 1989 that bore his'fingerprints and signature, which tended to show that he was still in Guatemala in 1989. While Lopez argues that the card was issued to him when he was in the United States, the Board did not believe him, and with good reason: Lopez gave no details about the steps he…

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