Brito Garibaldo v. Mukasey

MEMORANDUM ***

Rigaberto Brito Garibaldo petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming without opinion a decision of the Immigration Judge (IJ) denying Garibaldo’s application for cancellation of removal. We grant the petition for review. Because the parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of this case, we need not recount it here.

Where, under the BIA’s streamlining procedures, a single member of the BIA affirms the IJ’s decision without opinion, the IJ’s decision becomes the final agency action, Lopez-Alvarado v. Ashcroft, 381 F.3d 847, 851 (9th Cir.2004), and we review the IJ’s decision, Tapia v. Gonzales, 430 F.3d 997, 999 (9th Cir.2005). We review de novo the determination of questions of law. Gonzalez de Martinez v. Ashcroft, 374 F.3d 759, 761 (9th Cir.2004). We re *461 view findings of fact under the deferential substantial evidence standard, and will uphold them unless the evidence compels a contrary result. Tawadrus v. Ashcroft, 364 F.3d 1099, 1102 (9th Cir.2004).

In determining Garibaldo’s request for cancellation of removal, the IJ began by incorrectly asserting that Garibaldo had been convicted of…