Mauricio Moral-Salaz v. Eric Holder, 708 F.3d 957

Moral-Salazar, a citizen and native of Ecuador, was admitted to the U.S. in 1988 as an immigrant and later convicted of multiple crimes, including sexual abuse of a minor (2002, an aggravated felony) and unlawful use of a weapon (1997).
DHS initiated removal proceedings in 2011 based on Moral’s criminal history, including the aggravated felony and firearm offenses.
The Immigration Judge granted five continuances; four were to permit Moral to pursue state-court post-conviction relief related to his 2002 sex-abuse conviction, which he sought to overturn on Padilla-based grounds.
State court petitions were dismissed as untimely; Moral sought equitable tolling of the post-conviction deadlines, which the IJ ultimately refused to accommodate with further continuances.
The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed the IJ, holding that Moral’s ongoing state-court efforts did not establish good cause for further continuances, and that even if successful in state court, he did not show a prima facie basis for cancellation of removal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether §1252(a)(2)(C) bars review of the continuance denial	Moral argues discretionary continuances are reviewable absent merits of removal.	Government says §1252(a)(2)(C) precludes review of any final removal order or closely related procedural rulings for aggravated felons.	§1252(a)(2)(C) bars review; petition dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Whether Calma and Kucana extend to §1252(a)(2)(C) procedures	Calma/Kucana support review of discretionary procedural decisions like continuances.	Text of §1252(a)(2)(C) is broader and precludes such review for aggravated felons.	We decline to extend Calma/Kucana to §1252(a)(2)(C); discretionary continuances remain unreviewable here.
Whether any legal/constitutional issue salvages review under §1252(a)(2)(D)	Padilla-based claims raise legal questions warranting review.	A constitutional/legal issue cannot transform a discretionary decision into reviewable error.	No legal/constitutional issue presented; review not available.

Kucana v. Holder, 130 S. Ct. 827 (Supreme Court, 2010) (discretionary decisions by regulation may be reviewed; presumption of judicial review)
Calma v. Holder, 663 F.3d 868 (7th Cir., 2011) (extended review of continuances where merits not implicating final order)
Torres-Tristan v. Holder, 656 F.3d 653 (7th Cir., 2011) (definition of 'final order of removal' includes related procedural decisions)
Ogunfuye v. Holder, 610 F.3d 303 (5th Cir., 2010) (subsection (C) bars review of discretionary continuances for aggravated felons)
Waugh v. Holder, 642 F.3d 1279 (10th Cir., 2011) (subsection (C) bars review of continuance decisions for aggravated felons)
Issaq v. Holder, 617 F.3d 962 (7th Cir., 2010) (CAT deferral review considerations; not applicable here)
Ghani v. Holder, 557 F.3d 836 (7th Cir., 2009) (immigration proceedings not suitable venue for challenging criminal conviction merits)
Zamora-Mallari v. Mukasey, 514 F.3d 679 (7th Cir., 2008) (caution against cloaking arguments in constitutional garb to obtain jurisdiction)
Adebowale v. Mukasey, 546 F.3d 893 (7th Cir., 2008) (constitutional challenges cannot convert discretionary decisions into reviewable questions)