Barragan

MEMORANDUM **

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) determined that Isaias Barragan was not eligible for cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b). The BIA recognized that Barragan satisfied the requirement for moral character and that his removal would result in the requisite hardship. It held, however, that he had not met the requirement for 10 years of continuous physical presence before his receipt, in 2001, of a Notice to Appear. See id. at § 1229b(b)(l). The only issue before us is thus whether, as the BIA concluded, Barragan’s presence in the United States was interrupted when government agents either sent him out of the United States or did not let him enter in 1992.

Placement in formal removal proceedings, voluntary departure in lieu of such formal proceedings, and expedited removal all interrupt an alien’s continuous presence in the United States. But not all departures interrupt an alien’s continuous presence.

For one thing, an alien’s otherwise continuous presence is not interrupted when the alien is merely turned around by officials at the border and not allowed to reenter, even if officials document such a turnaround. Juarez-Ramos v. Gonzales, 485 F.3d…