Cardenas-Mendoza

MEMORANDUM **

Petitioner, Baltazar Cardenas-Mendoza (“Cardenas-Mendoza”), seeks review of the decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) that he is statutorily ineligible for relief from removal under former INA § 212(c), 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (c), and INA § 237(a)(1)(H), 8 U.S.C. § 1227 (a)(1)(H). The BIA, adopting the decision of the Immigration Judge (“IJ”), held that Cardenas-Mendoza, who in 1988 pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use, see Wash. Rev.Code § 69.50.102(a)(9); Wash. Rev. Code § 69.50.412 , was not entitled to adjust to lawful permanent resident (“LPR”) status in August 1989 under the amnesty provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, codified at INA § 245A, 8 U.S.C. § 1255a. We deny the petition for review.

First, the IJ and BIA had jurisdiction to review the 1989 legalization determination, pursuant to those provisions governing termination and rescission of status. See 8 C.F.R. § 245a.3(n) (1989); INA § 246(a), 8 U.S.C. § 1256 (a). The IJ’s removal order was “sufficient to rescind [Cardenas-Mendoza’s] status,” INA § 246(a), notwithstanding the five-year statute of limitations. See Monet v. I.N.S., 791…