Opinion ID: 183829
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Removability Based on a Violation of a Law Relating to a Controlled Substance

Text: Young contends that the BIA erred in holding him removable based on a violation of a law relating to a controlled substance. Relying on Ruiz-Vidal v. Gonzales, 473 F.3d 1072, 1078 (9th Cir.2007), he argues that the documents in his record of conviction do not unequivocally establish that his 2005 conviction under Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11352(a) involved a substance regulated by the federal Controlled Substance Act. We may review a final order of removal only if the alien has exhausted all administrative remedies available to the alien as of right. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1). A petitioner's failure to raise an issue to the BIA generally constitutes a failure to exhaust, thus depriving this court of jurisdiction to consider the issue. See Barron v. Ashcroft, 358 F.3d 674, 677 (9th Cir.2004). Young cannot satisfy the exhaustion requirement by making a general challenge to the IJ's decision, but, rather, must specify which issues form the basis of the appeal. Morales-Alegria v. Gonzales, 449 F.3d 1051, 1058 (9th Cir.2006) (quoting Zara v. Ashcroft, 383 F.3d 927, 930 (9th Cir.2004)). Even construing Young's pro se filings liberally, as we must, [7] we cannot find that Young raised this specific claim before the BIA. Nowhere in his Notice of Appeal, his pro se brief, or the brief filed by pro bono counsel does Young question the IJ's finding that he was convicted for a violation of a law relating to a controlled substance. We therefore do not have jurisdiction to review the removal order. See Morales-Alegria, 449 F.3d at 1058-59.