Case ID: f-appx_361/html/0188-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
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Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

Jose Abraham SANCHEZ-PEREZ, Petitioner, v. Eric H. HOLDER, Jr., U.S. Attorney General, et al., Respondents.
    No. 08-6120-ag.
    United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
    Jan. 15, 2010.
    
      Jose Abraham Sanchez-Perez, Bronx, NY, pro se.
    Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division; Barry J. Pettinato, Assistant Director, Office of Immigration Litigation; Terri León-Benner, Trial Attorney, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondents.
    PRESENT: WILFRED FEINBERG, ROBERT A. KATZMANN, Circuit Judges and T.S. ELLIS III, District Judge.
    
      
       Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2), United States Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., is substituted for former Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey as Respondent in this case.
    
    
      
       T.S. Ellis III, Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.
    
   SUMMARY ORDER

Petitioner Jose Abraham Sanchez-Perez, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, seeks review of the November 14, 2008 order of the BIA denying his motion to reopen. In re Jose Abraham Sanchez-Perez, No. [ AXXX XXX XXX ] (B.I.A. Nov. 14, 2008). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history of the case.

We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen for abuse of discretion. Ali v. Gonzales, 448 F.3d 515, 517 (2d Cir.2006) (citing INS v. Doherty, 502 U.S. 314, 322-23, 112 S.Ct. 719, 116 L.Ed.2d 823 (1992)).

Sanchez-Perez filed his motion to reopen, challenging the BIA’s affirmation of the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying a motion to reopen his proceedings following entry of a deportation order entered in absentia in 1997. Sanchez-Perez asserted that his application to adjust status should be reviewed because he had not received notice of the hearing, following which the IJ entered the in absentia order.

The BIA denied Sanchez-Perez’s motion to reopen filed on September 16, 2008, as untimely filed following the prior BIA order, entered June 11, 2008, 2008 WL 2783067, affirming the IJ’s denial of the motion to reopen the proceedings. As Sanchez-Perez filed the motion more than 90 days after the prior BIA order and provided no explanation for any delay or exception from the timing requirement, it was not an abuse of discretion for the BIA to deny the motion. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2), (3).

Moreover, the administrative record establishes that there is no merit to Sanchez-Perez’s underlying claim that he had not received notice of the hearing, thus entitling him to reopening or rescission of the in absentia order. The hearing notice in the record was personally served on Sanchez-Perez and his counsel at a hearing and Sanchez-Perez’s affidavit confirms that he received the notice. Contrary to his argument in this Court, there is no requirement that notice be made by certified mail. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a)(2)(A) (providing that service by mail is required where “personal service is not practicable.”). Because Sanchez-Perez moved to reopen his proceedings ten years after entry of the in absentia order, any motion to reopen or rescind was untimely given that the record clearly establishes that he had received notice of the hearing. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252b(c)(3) (1996) (providing, absent lack of notice, a 180-day period for challenging an in absentia order via a motion to reopen or rescind); 8 C.F.R. 1003.2(c)(2), (3) (providing absent a relevant exception, a 90-day period for a filing a motion to reopen).

We have considered all of Sanchez-Perez’s arguments and determined them to be without merit.

For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review and motion for a stay of removal are DENIED.