Jean M. Valere v. Alberto R. Gonzales

SYKES, Circuit Judge.

Jean Marie Valere, a citizen of Haiti, was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1968, when he was ten years old. In 1994 he pleaded guilty to indecent assault of a child in Florida. Based on that conviction, the United States identified Valere as an aggravated felon and in 1998 initiated removal proceedings against him. Valere eventually sought relief under § 212(c) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(c) (1994), which was repealed in 1996 but under INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 326, 121 S.Ct. 2271, 150 L.Ed.2d 347…