Case: 17-11962 Date Filed: 01/11/2018 Page: 1 of 5 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 17-11962 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A091-448-390 JESUS RICARDO VILLALOBOS, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (January 11, 2018) Before WILSON, JORDAN and JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 17-11962 Date Filed: 01/11/2018 Page: 2 of 5 Jesus Villalobos, a native and citizen of Mexico, seeks review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his motion to reconsider its initial decision, in which it concluded that he failed to qualify for relief under former § 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”).1 For the reasons that follow, we must dismiss Villalobos’s petition. I. Villalobos, who first entered the United States in 1979, was admitted as a temporary resident in 1988. In February 1991, he was convicted of possession of cocaine; he was convicted again of possession of cocaine in May 1991. Then, in November 1991, he adjusted his status to that of a permanent resident. One year later, he was convicted of the sale, purchase, or delivery of cocaine, as well as possession of cocaine. Villalobos was later charged with removability. He conceded that he was removable under INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(i), 2 but he requested a waiver under § 212(c). The immigration judge (“IJ”) concluded that because Villalobos had been 1 Under § 212(c), “any permanent resident alien with a lawful unrelinquished domicile of seven consecutive years [could] apply for a discretionary waiver from deportation.” I.N.S. v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 295 (2001) (internal quotation marks omitted). Congress repealed § 212(c) in 1996, but the Supreme Court has held that “§ 212(c) relief remains available” for noncitizens “whose convictions were obtained through plea agreements and who, notwithstanding those convictions, would have been eligible for § 212(c) relief at the time of their plea under the law then in effect.” Id. at 326. 2 Under § 237(a)(2)(B)(i), any noncitizen who was convicted of a controlled substance violation, “other than a single offense involving possession for one’s own use of 30 grams or less of marijuana, is deportable.” 2 Case: 17-11962 Date Filed: 01/11/2018 Page: 3 of 5 convicted of cocaine possession in early 1991, his later status adjustment to permanent resident was invalid. Because he had not been lawfully admitted for permanent residence, the IJ concluded, Villalobos was ineligible for relief under § 212(c). Villalobos appealed to the BIA, who dismissed his appeal, concluding, like the IJ, that Villalobos’s criminal convictions had prevented him from becoming a lawful permanent resident, which was a prerequisite for § 212(c) relief. Villalobos did not appeal the BIA’s order to this Court. Instead, after the time to file a motion to reconsider had expired, he moved the BIA to accept a late- filed motion to reconsider its decision, which the BIA denied. 3 Villalobos then renewed his motion to ...
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