Martinez v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

Judge STRAUB concurs in a separate opinion.

JOHN M. WALKER, JR., Circuit Judge:

Petitioner, a legal permanent resident alien, seeks review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming the immigration judge’s denial of cancellation of removal for failure to satisfy the seven-year continuous residence requirement of INA § 240A(d), 8 U.S.C. § 1229b. Because petitioner’s removal proceedings were initiated after the effective date of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRI-RA”), the agency retroactively applied IIRIRA’s permanent provisions,…