Nancy Arabillas Morales v. Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General

Nancy Arabillas Morales, a.k.a. Juan Manuel Arabillas Morales, a male-to-female transsexual, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision summarily affirming an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) removal order and denial of her applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).

The IJ concluded that Morales was removable both because she was an alien present in the United States without admission or parole and because she had been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude — communication with a minor for immoral purposes under section 9.68A.090 of the Revised Code of Washington. The IJ further found Morales would have been eligible for asylum but for her conviction, which the IJ determined was a particularly serious crime. Having made that decision, the IJ denied Morales’s applications for asylum and for withholding of removal. The IJ also denied Morales’s application for CAT relief on the merits, holding that Morales had not shown it was more likely than not she would be tortured if she were returned to Mexico.

We conclude that we lack jurisdiction to review the IJ’s finding that Morales was…