Mpamugo v. U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service , 53 F. App'x 685 ( 2002 )


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  •                           UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    UWADI UCHEOMA MPAMUGO,                
    Petitioner,
    v.
                No. 02-1781
    U.S. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION
    SERVICE,
    Respondent.
    
    On Petition for Review of an Order
    of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
    (A72-720-635)
    Submitted: December 2, 2002
    Decided: December 19, 2002
    Before NIEMEYER, LUTTIG, and KING, Circuit Judges.
    Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    COUNSEL
    Lloyd F. Ukwu, Washington, D.C., for Petitioner. Robert D. McCal-
    lum, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Emily Anne Radford, Assistant
    Director, Joshua E. Braunstein, Office of Immigration Litigation,
    UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington,
    D.C., for Respondent.
    2                          MPAMUGO v. INS
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
    Local Rule 36(c).
    OPINION
    PER CURIAM:
    Uwadi Ucheoma Mpamugo has filed a petition for review of the
    Board of Immigration Appeals’ ("Board") order dismissing his appeal
    from the immigration judge’s finding of deportability and denying his
    application for adjustment of status. For the reasons discussed below,
    we deny the petition for review.
    Mpamugo first argues that the Immigration and Naturalization Ser-
    vice ("INS") failed to charge him with an offense in violation of the
    Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"). This claim is based on his
    erroneous belief that the current version of INA § 241(a)(1)(B) is cod-
    ified at 
    8 U.S.C. § 1231
    (a)(1)(B) (2000), a section which does not
    relate to a ground of deportation. At the time that deportation pro-
    ceedings were initiated against Mpamugo, however, INA
    § 241(a)(1)(B) was codified at § 1251(a)(1)(B) and provided that
    "[a]ny alien who entered the United States without inspection or at
    any time or place other than as designated by the Attorney General
    or is in the United States in violation of this chapter or any other law
    of the United States is deportable." 
    8 U.S.C. § 1251
    (a)(1)(B) (1994);
    see also Onyeme v. INS, 
    146 F.3d 227
    , 228 n.2 (4th Cir. 1998) (noting
    recodification of INA § 241(a)(1)(B)). We therefore find that Mpa-
    mugo was properly charged pursuant to INA § 241(a)(1)(B).
    Next, Mpamugo raises several claims relating to the INS’s failure
    to rule on his wife’s pending immediate relative petition. We lack
    jurisdiction to address these claims. Pursuant to INA § 106(a), as cod-
    ified in early 1996 at 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a) (1994), the courts of
    appeals have exclusive jurisdiction over "all final orders of deporta-
    tion" made pursuant to deportation hearings. The Supreme Court has
    held that "the judicial review provisions of § 106(a) embrace only
    those determinations made during a [deportation] proceeding." Cheng
    Fan Kwok v. INS, 
    392 U.S. 206
    , 216 (1968). Because the INS’s adju-
    MPAMUGO v. INS                            3
    dication of the immediate relative petition is separate and distinct
    from Mpamugo’s deportation proceedings, we cannot reach the merits
    of these claims. See Hassan v. INS, 
    110 F.3d 490
    , 494 (7th Cir. 1997);
    Olivar v. INS, 
    967 F.2d 1381
    , 1383 n.1 (9th Cir. 1992).
    Accordingly, we deny Mpamugo’s petition for review. We dis-
    pense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
    adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument
    would not aid the decisional process.
    PETITION DENIED