United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
Chicago, Illinois 60604
November 6, 2012
Before
William J. Bauer, Circuit Judge
Daniel A. Manion, Circuit Judge
Michael S. Kanne, Circuit Judge
No. 11-3851
JOSE DURON-ORTIZ, Petition for review of an Order of the
Petitioner, Board of Immigration Appeals
v. No. A076 202 970
ERIC H. HOLDER, JR.,
Respondent.
ORDER
The government’s motion to amend, filed on October 23, 2012, is GRANTED and the
opinion of this court issued October 15, 2012, is amended as follows:
Replace this language at page 7 of the slip opinion:
Duron-Ortiz’s appeal centers on his challenge to the Board’s decision in Ortega-
Cabrera, which found that the cancellation of removal statute—8 U.S.C. §
1229b(b)(1)—is ambiguous with regard to when the ten-year period for establishing
continuous physical presence and good moral character terminates. The Board held
that the period for establishing both terminates when the IJ or Board issues a final
administrative decision. See Ortega-Cabrera, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 797-98.
No. 11-3851 2
with this language:
Duron-Ortiz’s appeal centers on his challenge to the Board’s decision in Ortega-
Cabrera, which found that the cancellation of removal statute—8 U.S.C. §
1229b(b)(1)—is ambiguous with regard to when the ten-year period for establishing
good moral character terminates. The Board held that the period for establishing
good moral character terminates when the IJ or Board issues a final administrative
decision. See Ortega-Cabrera, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 797-98.
Replace this language at page 8:
Under the stop-time provision, the moment an NTA is served upon an alien, the ten-
year period to determine continuous physical presence (and thus good moral
character) is cut off, regardless of when the alien ultimately files an application for
cancellation of removal.
with this language:
Under the stop-time provision, the moment an NTA is served upon an alien, the ten-
year period to determine continuous physical presence is cut off, regardless of when
the alien ultimately files an application for cancellation of removal.
Finally, add the following footnote (footnote 2) to the end of the sentence, after the cite, on
page 8 that reads, “The Board then concluded that ‘the 10-year period during which good
moral character must be establishing ends with the entry of a final administrative decision.’
Id. at 798.”:
2
The Board’s decision in Ortega-Cabrera affects only the time period to establish good
moral character. The time period for establishing continuous physical presence
terminates when an alien is served an NTA. See, e.g., Ram v. INS, 243 F.3d 510 (9th
Cir. 2001); Matter of Mendoza-Sandino, 22 I. & N. Dec. 1236 (BIA 2000).