Juana Acosta De Leon v. Eric H. Holder Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Juana Acosta de Leon petitions for review from the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) entry of a final order of removal and denial of cancellation of removal. Reviewing de novo “[ljegal questions concerning the meaning of the immigration laws,” Aguilar Gonzalez v. Mukasey, 534 F.3d 1204, 1208 (9th Cir.2008), we deny the petition.

The BIA correctly held that Petitioner had not been “admitted in any status” under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(a) because, as Petitioner acknowledges, she never entered the country lawfully and therefore cannot meet the statutory definition of “admitted,” 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(13)(A).

Athough we have held that being accepted into certain programs providing immigration benefits constituted being “admitted in any status,” see Garcia v. Holder, 659 F.3d 1261 (9th Cir.2011); Garcia-Quintero v. Gonzales, 455 F.3d 1006 (9th Cir.2006), those cases are not applicable here. Petitioner here merely applied for temporary status under the Special Agricultural Workers program defined at 8 U.S.C. § 1160 (a). Cf. e.g, Garcia-Quintero, 455 F.3d at 1015 (assessing whether acceptance into the Family Unity Program (“FUP”) rendered the petitioner “admitted in…