Sanchez

AMENDED MEMORANDUM **

Diogenes Jaimes-Sanchez and his wife Ofelia Pena-Garcia, natives and citizens of Mexico, petition for review of the order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the immigration judge’s (IJ) denial of their application for cancellation of removal. We deny the petition because Jaimes-Sanchez and Pena-Garcia must establish that they are persons of good moral character, 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(l), but cannot do so in light of their $1000 payment to a smuggler to bring another alien illegally into this country. 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101 (f), 1182(a)(6)(E)(i); Khourassany v. INS, 208 F.3d 1096 (9th Cir.2000) (holding that alien who paid smuggler to bring wife and child into the United States illegally is not considered to be of good moral character). While doing so was undoubtedly for a good purpose from their point of view, no exceptions apply to Jaimes-Sanchez and Pena-Garcia. The IJ did not err by failing to consider discretionary relief under § 1182(d)(11), because neither Jaimes-Sanchez nor Pena-Garcia meets the criteria for eligibility. See Khourassany, 208 F.3d at 1101 ; but see Moran v. Ashcroft, 395 F.3d 1089 (9th Cir.2005) (suggesting, in dicta, that…