Jose Encarnacion Cedano-Viera v. John D. Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General

ORDER

The opinion filed March 26, 2003, is amended as follows:

Slip opinion at 4373-4374 [ 2003 WL 1542642 ]: eliminating the final two paragraphs in Part II.

OPINION

Jose Cedano-Viera is a native and citizen of Mexico who entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident (LPR) in April 1993. He was later convicted of Lewdness with a Child Under Fourteen Years of Age in violation of Nevada law. The Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) initiated removal proceedings, charging that Cedano-Viera’s conviction was an “aggravated felony” — -“sexual abuse of a minor” — as defined in INA § 101(a)(43)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(43)(A). The immigration judge (IJ) agreed, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) summarily affirmed the results of the IJ’s decision pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 3.1 (a)(7). Cedano-Viera claims that the BIA’s summary affirmance violated his due process right to appeal, and that the BIA did not comply with its own regulation in designating his case for “streamlining.” He also contends that his ineligibility for an INA § 212(h), 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (h), waiver of inadmissibility as an LPR convicted of an aggravated felony offends principles of equal protection…