FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION NOV 17 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
EDUARDO MARTINEZ-HERRERA, No. 07-72358
Petitioner, Agency No. A029-192-223
v.
MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Argued and Submitted November 2, 2010
San Francisco, California
Before: PAEZ and BEA, Circuit Judges, and DUFFY, Senior District Judge.**
Petitioner Eduardo Martinez-Herrera (“Petitioner”), a native and citizen of
Guatemala who entered the United States without inspection in 1988, seeks review
of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order denying Petitioner a waiver of
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The Honorable Kevin Thomas Duffy, United States District Judge for
the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation.
inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(h). Our jurisdiction is governed by 8 U.S.C.
§ 1252. We deny the petition.
We lack jurisdiction to review denial of Petitioner’s request for a waiver of
inadmissibility under § 1182(h). Petitioner does not raise a cognizable legal or
constitutional question as to the BIA’s denial of his waiver request. The BIA
determined that Petitioner was statutorily eligible for § 1182(h) relief, but did not,
in exercise of its discretion, grant § 1182(h) relief.
There is no merit to Petitioner’s contention that a finding of eligibility
requires granting a waiver. § 1182(h) expressly states that the “Attorney General
may, in his discretion,” grant a waiver to an eligible petitioner. Here, the BIA
properly considered Petitioner’s lack of rehabilitation as one of many factors in
determining that relief was not warranted. Because whether to grant § 1182(h)
relief is a discretionary decision, we lack jurisdiction to review the agency’s
decision. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i); Mejia v. Gonzales, 499 F.3d 991, 999
(9th Cir. 2007).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.
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