Melquiades T. Lagandaon v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

How long is a year? We are not the first to confront this question. See, e.g., British Calendar Act, 1751, 24 Geo. 2 c. 23 (Eng.) (adopting the Gregorian calendar); Pope Gregory XIII, Inter Gravissimas (1582), reprinted in VIII Bullarum Diplo-MATUM ET PrIVILEGIORuM SANCTORUM RoMAN-Pontifioum 386 (Sebastiano Franco & Henrico Dalmazzo, eds. 1863), translation available at http://personal.ecu.edu/ mcear-tyr/intGrvEng.html (declaring the modern, or Gregorian, calendar, in which years begin January 1 and end December 31). Following our august predecessors, we hold that a year, other than a leap year, is 365 days. In this case, concerning whether an alien has been here long enough to be eligible for discretionary relief, that conclusion means we must grant the petition for review.

I

Certain aliens subject to removal from the United States are eligible, in the discretion of the Attorney General, for “cancellation of removal,” permitting them to stay in this country. Petitioner Melquiades Lagandaon seeks to establish eligibility for this form of relief. As he was never a permanent resident of the United States, his eligibility for cancellation of removal is governed by 8 U.S.C. §…