Opinion ID: 1303048
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: As a preliminary matter, we must determine whether we have jurisdiction to review the BIA's denial of Freeman's motion to reopen. If an alien is a criminal alien under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C), our jurisdiction to review his denial of a motion to reopen a final order of removal is limited to constitutional claims and questions of law. Hanan v. Mukasey, 519 F.3d 760, 763 (8th Cir.2008) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C)-(D)). [2] An alien is a criminal alien if he is removable by reason of having committed a criminal offense covered in[, among other sections,] section 1182(a)(2). 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C). As the Eleventh Circuit has noted, determining whether an alien is a criminal alien involves a three-step inquiry in which we ask whether the individual is (1) an alien (2) who is removable (3) because he committed a criminal offense [covered in section 1182(a)(2)]. Balogun v. United States Att'y Gen., 304 F.3d 1303, 1310 (11th Cir.2002). Freeman admits that he is an alien and that he committed a crime involving moral turpitude pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). However, he contends that he is not removable for that conviction because he received a 212(c) waiver of inadmissibility. [3] We assume Freeman intended to direct our attention to the 209(c) waiver, and we still find him removable. A 209(c) waiver (codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1159(c)) does not make an alien immune from removal. Instead, it waives a ground of inadmissibility for the purpose of seeking adjustment of status. 8 U.S.C. § 1159(c) (providing that certain provisions of the INA shall not be applicable to any alien seeking adjustment of status under this section, and the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General may waive [other provisions] with respect to such an alien  (emphasis added)). Since a 209(c) waiver only deals with waiving grounds for inadmissibility for the purpose of seeking adjustment of status, the waiver Freeman placed in the record has no bearing on whether he was removable for his conviction. [4] Although Freeman did place the 209(c) waiver into the record, he has not, until now, asserted that the waiver makes him immune from removal for committing a crime of moral turpitude. It was Freeman's burden to prove that he was eligible for relief from removal. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(4)(A). He failed to meet this burden. Thus, he is a criminal alien under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C), and our review of his motion to reopen is limited solely to constitutional claims and questions of law.