Lopez-Esparza v. Holder

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Immigration
Citation
Case Number: 
No. 13-3376
Decision Date: 
October 23, 2014
Federal District: 
Petition for Review, Order of Bd. of Immigration Appeals
Holding: 
Petition granted
Bd. erred in denying alien’s petition for cancellation of removal based on alleged 10-year continuous presence in U.S. Applicable regulations allowed alien to be away from U.S. for less than 90-day periods, as well as for any periods in aggregate that were less than 180 days, and record showed that alien was away from U.S. for three trips to Mexico for total of 114 days, with no trip lasting longer than 90 days. While Bd. based denial on failure of alien to be certain as to precise dates for each trip, record established at most that alien spent 137 days outside U.S., and thus would still have qualified for cancellation of removal. Moreover, fact that alien was not precise with respect to start and end dates of his trips, such imprecision did not create uncertainty about whether said trips exceeded instant 180-day limit.