Rivera-Peraza
Rivera-Peraza v. Holder
Opinion
Opinion
Fletcher, J.
Petitioner Rafael Gerardo Rivera-Peraza (“Rivera”), a native and citizen of Mexico, was convicted of armed robbery with a firearm in California in 1981. After serving most of his sentence, Rivera was deported in 1984. Since then, he has twice reentered this country without inspection. The government began a removal proceeding against Rivera in 2004. Rivera admitted removability and sought adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident. Because his 1981 conviction rendered him inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(2)(A)(i)(I), Rivera applied for a waiver of inadmissibility under § 1182(h)(1)(A) and (B). See 8 U.S.C. § 1255 (i)(2)(A) (requiring applicant for adjustment of status to permanent resident to be admissible to the United States).
The Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denied Rivera’s application for waiver of inadmissibility. The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirmed, concluding that Rivera failed to satisfy the hardship standard of 8 C.F.R. § 1212.7 (d). Rivera timely filed a petition for review. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the BIA properly applied § 1212.7(d) to Rivera. We therefore deny the petition.