
    Lorenzo LEDEZMA-SANDOVAL, Petitioner, v. Eric H. HOLDER Jr., Attorney General, Respondent.
    No. 05-77082.
    United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
    Argued and Submitted Dec. 4, 2006.
    Filed April 2, 2010.
    Robert B. Jobe, Esq., Law Offices of Robert B. Jobe, Fatma Marouf, Esq., San Francisco, CA, for Petitioner.
    Ronald E. LeFevre, Chief Counsel, Office of the District Counsel, Department of Homeland Security, San Francisco, CA, Anthony C. Payne, Esq., U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Div./Office of Immigration Lit., Washington, DC, David V. Bernal, Attorney, James E. Grimes, Esq., for Respondent.
    Before: D.W. NELSON and BERZON, Circuit Judges, and COWEN, Judge.
    
    
      
       The Honorable Robert E. Cowen, Senior United Slates Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit, sitting by designation.
    
   MEMORANDUM

Lorenzo Ledezma-Sandoval petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing his appeal of a final order of removal.

The BIA erred in holding that Ledezma was removable as an aggravated felon by reason of his conviction for second-degree murder in 1981 because “8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) [providing that an alien convicted of an aggravated felony is de-portable] does not apply to convictions ... that occurred prior to November 18,1988.” Ledezmu-Galicia v. Holder, 599 F.3d 1055, 1075 (9th Cir.2010). Because we hold that the 1981 conviction cannot serve as a basis for removal, we do not reach Ledezma’s alternative arguments regarding his eligibility for a waiver of that ground of removal.

We grant the petition and remand to the BIA for further proceedings.

PETITION FOR REVIEW GRANTED; REMANDED. 
      
       This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9 th Cir. R. 36-3.
     