26 I. & N. Dec. 644; 2015 BIA LEXIS 26

 26 I. & N. Dec. 644; 2015 BIA LEXIS 26

Opinion

 [*644]  WENDTLAND, Board Member:

In a decision dated September 18, 2012, an Immigration Judge found that the applicant had abandoned his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted and opened for signature Dec. 10, 1984, G.A. Res. 39/46, 39 U.N. GAOR Supp. No. 51, at 197, U.N. Doc. A/RES/39/708 (1984) (entered into force June 26, 1987; for the United States Apr. 18, 1988) ("Convention Against Torture"). The applicant has appealed from that decision, arguing, as a threshold matter, that he was improvidently placed into asylum-only proceedings by the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") because he had not been admitted under the Visa Waiver Program ("VWP"). The appeal will be sustained in part and dismissed in part, and the record will be remanded to the Immigration Judge for further proceedings.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The following facts are not in dispute. The applicant is a native and [**2]  citizen of Argentina who arrived in the United States on April 26, 1999. On May 9, 2011, the DHS issued an administrative order of removal  [*645]  pursuant to section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1187 (2006), based on the applicant's alleged violation of the conditions of his admission under the VWP. The applicant expressed a fear of returning to Argentina, and on June 23, 2011, his case was referred to the Immigration Court for asylum-only proceedings pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 217.4 (2011).

During a July 6, 2011, master calendar hearing, the applicant argued that he had been improperly placed into asylum-only proceedings. He asked to be placed into removal proceedings so that he could pursue cancellation of removal under section 240A(b)(1) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1) (2006). The applicant also requested a continuance, explaining that he had filed a petition for review with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit challenging his placement into asylum-only proceedings.

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