Lejarde

MEMORANDUM ***

Arnold LeJarde petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his application for suspension of deportation and voluntary departure. Because the facts are known to the parties, we do not recite them here. The transitional rules of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”) govern LeJarde’s appeal. 1 Thus, we have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1105a (1996). 2 We deny his petition.

IIRIRA requires that an alien accrue seven years continuous physical presence prior to the issuance of an order to show cause. 3 This requirement applies to cases pending on appeal to the BIA as of IIRIRA’s effective date of April 1, 1997. 4 Therefore, even assuming the truth of Le-Jarde’s assertion that he entered the United States on June 21, 1987, he had not been in the United States for a full seven years on March 4, 1994, when the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) issued an order to show cause. The BIA correctly held that he was ineligible for suspension of deportation relief.

The BIA also correctly concluded that LeJarde’s statements to an INS asylum officer constituted “false…