Vasquez-Zavala v. Ashcroft

Francisco Vasquez-Zavala and Cristina Vasquez-Patino petition for review of a final order of removal from the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA"). The BIA held that because the Immigration and Naturalization Services charging document was not filed until after April 1, 1997--the effective date of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act ("IIRIRA"), PL 104-208 Div. C, 110 Stat. 3009 (1996)--petitioners were no longer statutorily eligible for the pre-IIRIRA remedy of suspension of deportation but instead could only seek cancellation of removal under IIRIRA. Petitioners seek to distinguish their situation from the one presented to us in Jimenez-Angeles v. Ashcroft, 291 F.3d 594 (9th Cir. 2002), where we held that an alien who presented herself to the INS before April 1, 1997 did not have "settled expectations" of being placed in deportation proceedings and was therefore properly in removal proceedings because the INS did not file the charging document until after April 1, 1997. Petitioners argue that because of the way they presented themselves to the INS--by filing an application for asylum before April 1, 1997--they had "settled expectations" of being placed in deportation proceedings rather than removal proceedings, or, alternatively, that they had due process rights to the same. We disagree and deny the petition.