U.S. Sup. Ct.
10-1543
Title 8 U. S. C. §1229b(a) authorizes the Attorney General to cancel the removal of an alien from the United States who, among other things, has held the status of a lawful permanent resident (LPR) for at least five years, §1229b(a)(1), and has lived in the United States for at least seven continuous years after a lawful admission, §1229b(a)(2). These cases concern whether the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA or Board) should impute a parents years of continuous residence or LPR status to his or her child. That issue arises because a child may enter the country lawfully, or may gain LPR status, after one of his parents doesmeaning that a parent may satisfy §1229b(a)(1) or §1229b(a)(2), while his child, considered independently, does not. In In re Escobar, 24 I. & N. Dec. 231, the BIA concluded that an alien must meet §1229b(a)s requirements on his own. But the Ninth Circuit found the Boards position unreasonable, holding that §1229b(a)(1) and §1229b(a)(2) require imputation. See MercadoZazueta v. Holder, 580 F. 3d 1102; Cuevas-Gaspar v. Gonzales, 430 F. 3d 1013.
