and
taken to the Mexican border in Immigration and Naturaliza-
tion Service (“INS”)1 custody—did not interrupt his continu-
ous physical presence for purposes of cancellation of removal.
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We deny
the petition.

                                  I

   Gomez is a native and citizen of Mexico. He first entered
the United States in January of 1989. In February of 1993, he
went to Mexico for two or three weeks. Gomez attempted to
reenter the United States, and at the border, gave the immigra-
tion officer a “Notification of Birth Registration” from the
State of New Mexico. According to the Recordof Deportable
Alien (Form I-213) documenting his attempted reentry,
Gomez at first claimed that he was a U.S. citizen, but on fur-
ther questioning, admitted that he was a Mexican citizen and
  1
   Pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the functions of the
former INS were transferred to the newly formed Department of Home-
land Security. Pub. L. No. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135 (2002).
                       GOMEZ ZARATE v. HOLDER                         1421
that he had no documents allowing him to enter or legally
remain in the United