Case Explained: Aura Lopez-Lopez v. Todd Blanche, Acting Attorney General of the United States1

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Filed: 2026-07-07

The eighth-circuit denied the petition for review filed by Aura Lopez-Lopez seeking cancellation of removal, holding that the court could not address two new legal arguments regarding the statutory basis for her ineligibility and the applicability of the petty-offense exception because she failed to administratively exhaust them. The court applied the administrative exhaustion requirement under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1) and established Eighth Circuit precedent, which mandates that issues not raised before the immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals are waived when the proceedings were adversarial and the petitioner was represented by counsel. Because Lopez-Lopez’s removal proceedings were adversarial and she had legal representation, but never presented these specific issues to the agency for consideration, the court determined it lacked authority to review them as a “court of review, not first view.” Consequently, the petition was dismissed without reaching the merits of her claims regarding the child abuse conviction or statutory interpretation.

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