Braulio Juan Acosta v. Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General

We must decide whether an inadmissible alien is eligible for penalty-fee adjustment of status based on marriage to a United States citizen or an extreme hardship waiver, or both.

I

Braulio Juan Acosta is a Mexican national who entered the United States without inspection in May 1993. Since his illegal entry into the country, he has returned to Mexico twice, in 1996 and 1999, both times reentering the United States without inspection.

Acosta married a United States citizen in April 2001 and applied for adjustment of status based on his marriage, filing the required paperwork and paying the $1,000 penalty fee. His application was denied because he had accrued more than one year of unlawful presence in the United States followed by an illegal reentry and was therefore permanently inadmissible. Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) § 212(a)(9)(C)(i)(I), 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(9)(C)(i)(I).

In late 2002, Acosta received a Notice to Appear from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”), explaining that he was subject to removal as an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. At one of several hearings before the Immigration Judge (“IJ”), Acosta…