Valdez-Bernal

MEMORANDUM **

Juan Carlos Valdez-Bernal petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ determination that he is an alien and eligible for removal pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1227 (a)(2)(B)(I), as an alien convicted of a controlled substance offense. Petitioner contends that he is a U.S. citizen by virtue of his father’s U.S. citizenship. We have jurisdiction to consider Valdez-Bernal’s citizenship claim under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (b)(5).

In 1957, the year of Valdez-Bernal’s birth, INA § 301(a)(7) provided that a child was a national and citizen at birth when “prior to the birth of such person, [the citizen parent] was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years.” 8 U.S.C. § 1401 (a)(7) (1957). Pe *4 riods of military service counted towards the ten-year physical presence requirement. Id.

The record before us supports a conclusion that Valdez-Bernal’s father, Carlos E.B. Valdez, was not physically present in the United States for ten years prior to 1957. Although Valdez-Bernal’s father was a U.S. citizen and served in the Korean…