FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
NOV 18 2015
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
LUIS ALBERTO MORALES-MUNOZ, No. 12-70589
Petitioner, Agency No. A099-745-216
v.
MEMORANDUM*
LORETTA E. LYNCH, Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted November 16, 2015**
San Francisco, California
Before: THOMAS, Chief Judge and IKUTA and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges.
Luis Morales-Munoz, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of
the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an
immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for cancellation of
removal.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
In his petition for review, Morales-Munoz contests the IJ’s determination
that he was statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal because of his prior
conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia under Arizona Revised Statutes
§ 13-3415. However, Morales-Munoz did not present this argument to the BIA
and the BIA expressly held that he had waived the argument by failing to raise it in
his appellate brief to the BIA. Because Morales-Munoz did not administratively
exhaust the only issue he raises in his petition for review, we lack jurisdiction to
consider it. See Sola v. Holder, 720 F.3d 1134, 1135 (9th Cir. 2013) (holding that
a “petitioner's failure to raise an issue before the BIA generally constitutes a failure
to exhaust, thus depriving this court of jurisdiction to consider the issue”).
PETITION DISMISSED.