Padilla-Medel

MEMORANDUM **

Manuel Padilla-Medel petitions for review of a final decision issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying his motion to reopen a prior deportation order. We deny the petition.

DISCUSSION

Padilla-Medel, a native and citizen of Mexico, entered the United States and was granted lawful permanent resident status in 1991. He was deported in 1995 after being convicted of possessing a controlled substance. He returned shortly thereafter, living and working in California, until he was apprehended in 2003 and charged with removability. He admitted in his removal proceedings that he was an alien present in the United States without having been lawfully admitted or paroled, and accordingly, an Immigration Judge ordered him removed to Mexico.

During the pendency of his removal proceedings, Padilla-Medel sought and obtained an expungement of his drug conviction pursuant to California Penal Code § 1203.4. He then argued to the BIA that because “his conviction which led to his previous removal has been vacated, his conviction no longer constitutes a final conviction for immigration purposes and the basis for his removal in 1995 is no longer valid.” The BIA rejected…