United States v. Juan Cortez

PAMELA HARRIS, Circuit Judge:

Juan Cortez, a citizen of Mexico, was charged with illegally reentering the United States after having been removed years prior. Cortez conceded that he was unlawfully present, but argued that his initial removal order was invalid because of an alleged filing defect that deprived the immigration court of "jurisdiction" over his case. The district court rejected that argument, and Cortez subsequently pleaded guilty while preserving his right to raise the issue on appeal.

We affirm the district court's order. We first hold that the premise of Cortez's argument - that…