Manuel Lopez-Castellanos v. Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General

Petitioner-Appellant Manuel Lopez-Castellanos petitions for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) finding him ineligible for relief under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 240A(b), 8 U.S.C. § 1229b. We deny relief.

I.

Lopez-Castellanos entered the United States illegally in 1978 and has resided here continuously since that time. On October 21, 1988, he pled guilty to one count of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, in violation of California Penal Code § 288(a).

At the time of his conviction, this act was not considered an “aggravated felony” under the immigration laws. Moreover, the conviction had no bearing on Lopez-Castellanos’s eligibility for a discretionary waiver of deportation. However, several new immigration provisions enacted after Lopez-Castellanos’s conviction changed this scenario, and the Government, which instituted removal proceedings after the passage of those provisions, argues that Lopez-Castellanos is ineligible for relief. Although we disagree with much of the Government’s analysis, we deny relief on other grounds.

II.

The agency instituted removal proceedings on December 13,1999. Shortly thereafter,…