Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-05-02590/USCOURTS-ca8-05-02590-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Alberto Gonzales
Respondent
Wenceslao Cornejo Soriano
Petitioner

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 05-2590

___________

Wenceslao Cornejo Soriano, *

*

Petitioner, *

* Petition for Review

v. * of an Order of the

* Board of Immigration Appeals.

Alberto Gonzales, United States *

Attorney General, * [UNPUBLISHED]

*

Respondent. *

___________

Submitted: October 6, 2006

Filed: October 19, 2006

___________

Before SMITH, MAGILL, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Wenceslao Cornejo Soriano, a citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of an

order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying his motion to reconsider

or to reopen. 

We conclude that the BIA acted within its discretion in denying Soriano’s

motion. See Patel v. Ashcroft, 375 F.3d 693, 695-96 (8th Cir. 2004) (standard of

review). We agree with the BIA that Soriano was ineligible for a waiver of

removability under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 212(c), 8 U.S.C.

§ 1182(c) (1994) (repealed effective Apr. 1, 1997), because the ground for which he

Appellate Case: 05-2590 Page: 1 Date Filed: 10/19/2006 Entry ID: 2100994
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was found removable--the aggravated felony of sexual abuse of minor--does not have

a statutory counterpart in the grounds of inadmissibility listed in INA § 212(a), 8

U.S.C. § 1182(a). See 8 C.F.R. § 1212.3(f)(5) (2005) (§ 212(c) relief shall be denied

if alien is removable on ground which does not have statutory counterpart in grounds

of inadmissibility under § 212(a)); Campos v. INS, 961 F.2d 309, 312-15 (1st Cir.

1992) (§ 212(c) waiver may be granted to alien facing deportation only when there is

ground of exclusion comparable to charge triggering deportation); In re Blake, 23 I.

& N. Dec. 722, 723-29 (BIA 2005) (sexual-abuse-of-minor removability ground has

no statutory counterpart in § 212(a) inadmissibility grounds).

Accordingly, we deny the petition.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 05-2590 Page: 2 Date Filed: 10/19/2006 Entry ID: 2100994