Rosas-Castaneda v. Holder, No. 10-70087

Petition for Review of Denial of Cancellation of Removal

In Rosas-Castaneda v. Holder, No. 10-70087, a petition for review of the BIA's denial of petitioner's application for cancellation of removal, the court granted the petition where both before and after the REAL ID Act, including at the time Sandoval-Lua was decided, the burden of proof was, is, and remains on the alien, and thus in this particular respect the REAL ID Act merely codified existing law.

As the court wrote:  "Luis Javier Rosas-Castaneda, a native and citizen of Mexico and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, was convicted of attempted transportation for sale of an amount of marijuana weighing more than two pounds in violation of Arizona law. An Immigration Judge found Rosas-Castaneda removable based on his conviction for a controlled substance violation, but found the record of conviction unclear as to whether his offense constituted an aggravated felony."

Related Resources

Read the Ninth Circuit's Decision in Rosas-Castaneda v. Holder, No. 10-70087