Nolasco-Martinez

MEMORANDUM ***

Miguel Nolasco-Martinez appeals from the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) conclusion that he was removable as an alien convicted of a crime relating to controlled substances.

Section 1252(a)(2)(C) of 8 U.S.C. divests this court of jurisdiction to review any final order of removal against an alien adjudicated removable by reason of having committed a criminal offense covered in 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(2), which includes crimes relating to controlled substances. If, however, in challenging an agency determination that an alien is removable by reason of committing such an offense, the alien presents a question of law, then 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (a)(2)(D) gives the court jurisdiction to resolve the legal question in the first *571 instance. Cardoso-Tlaseca v. Gonzales, 460 F.3d 1102, 1103 (9th Cir.2006); see also Lujan-Armendariz v. INS, 222 F.3d 728, 734 (9th Cir.2000) (the court retains jurisdiction to determine if the jurisdictional bar of 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (a)(2)(C) applies). Nolasco-Martinez presents the legal question of whether he has, as the BIA concluded, been convicted of a crime relating to a controlled substance.

Nolasco-Martinez’s 1993 conviction qualifies as a…