Jose Reyes Ruiz-Vidal v. Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General

We must decide whether the Department of Homeland Security has met its burden of proving that the petitioner is removable from the United States as an alien convicted of a law relating to a controlled substance.

I

A

Jose Ruiz-Vidal is a 49 year-old Mexican national who legally immigrated to the United States in August 1976. On October 26, 1998, RuizAVidal pleaded nolo conten-dere in California Superior Court to one count of criminal possession of methamphetamine, in violation of Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11377 (a) (the “1998 conviction”). Thereafter, the government sought to have Ruiz-Vidal removed from the United States on the basis of this conviction. Though Ruiz-Vidal was found removable by the immigration judge, he was granted cancellation of removal pursuant to § 240(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(a), which allows the Attorney General to cancel the removal of an alien who is a permanent resident if that alien has been a permanent resident for five years, has resided continuously in the United States for seven years, and has not been convicted of an aggravated felony.

On February 10, 2003, Ruiz-Vidal was charged in California Superior…