09-1732-ag

Pllumbaj v. Holder

BIA

A095 150 229

A095 150 230

A095 150 231

A095 150 232

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

SUMMARY ORDER

RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER

FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF

APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT’S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER

IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN

ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING A SUMMARY

ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.

1 At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals

2 for the Second Circuit, held at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan

3 United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, in the City of

4 New York, on the 7 day of May, two thousand ten. th

5

6 PRESENT:

7 JOSÉ A. CABRANES,

8 DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON,

9 GERARD E. LYNCH,

10 Circuit Judges.

11 ______________________________________

12

13 FRAN ZEF PLLUMBAJ, ANITA PLLUMBAJ,

14 ALMARINA PLLUMBAJ, ALDO PLLUMBAJ,

15 Petitioners, 

16 09-1732-ag

17 v. NAC

18

19 ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES 

20 ATTORNEY GENERAL, ET. AL., 

21 Respondents.

22 ______________________________________

23

24 FOR PETITIONERS: Andrew P. Johnson; Lawrence Spivak,

25 New York, New York.

26

27 FOR RESPONDENTS: Tony West, Assistant Attorney

28 General; Michelle Gorden Latour,

29 Assistant Director; Tracie N. Jones,
2

1 Trial Attorney, Office of

2 Immigration Litigation, Civil

3 Division, United States Department

4 of Justice, Washington, D.C.

5

6 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a

7 Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby

8 ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for review

9 is DENIED.

10 The Petitioners, Fran Zef Pllumbaj, Anita Pllumbaj,

11 Almarina Pllumbaj, and Aldo Pllumbaj, natives and citizens

12 of Albania, seek review of an April 17, 2009, order of the

13 BIA denying their motion to reopen their removal

14 proceedings. In re Pllumbaj, No. A 095 150 229/230/231/232

15 (B.I.A. Apr. 17, 2009). We assume the parties’ familiarity

16 with the underlying facts and procedural history of the

17 case.

18 We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen for

19 abuse of discretion. See Ali v. Gonzales, 448 F.3d 515, 517

20 (2d Cir. 2006). When the BIA considers relevant evidence of

21 country conditions in evaluating a motion to reopen, we

22 review the BIA’s factual findings under the substantial

23 evidence standard. See Jian Hui Shao v. Mukasey, 546 F.3d

24 138, 169 (2d Cir. 2008). 

25 An alien may only file one motion to reopen and must do
3

1 so within 90 days of the final administrative decision. 

2 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2). It is

3 indisputable that the Petitioners’ motion to reopen was

4 untimely and number-barred. These limitations do not apply,

5 however, if the alien establishes materially changed

6 circumstances arising in the country of nationality. 

7 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(3)(ii).

8 In denying the Petitioners’ motion to reopen, the BIA

9 concluded that, even assuming they demonstrated changed

10 country conditions, reopening was unwarranted because they

11 failed to establish “that any of the harm [they] experienced

12 was on account of a protected ground, as opposed to criminal

13 activity.” In other words, the BIA found that the

14 Petitioners had failed to establish their prima facie

15 eligibility for relief. See INS v. Abudu, 485 U.S. 94, 104-

16 05 (1988). We find the Petitioners’ assertion that a threat

17 issued against Fran’s brother by the police in an unrelated

18 matter five years after their mother’s death was

19 insufficient to compel the conclusion that she was killed

20 for political reasons. See Siewe v. Gonzales, 480 F.3d 160,

21 167 (2d Cir. 2007) (“Where there are two permissible views

22 of the evidence, the factfinder’s choice between them cannot
4

1 be clearly erroneous.”). Evidence of Almarina’s rape,

2 though distressing, similarly does not suggest error in the

3 BIA’s decision. 

4 The Petitioners further assert that they established

5 the requisite nexus because they demonstrated that they were

6 persecuted on account of their membership in a particular

7 social group comprised of “[family members] of a soldier who

8 opposed official abuse of civilians.” However, the BIA was

9 under no obligation to consider this newly-minted legal

10 theory in adjudicating an untimely motion to reopen. See 

11 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); see also Matter of O-S-G-, 24

12 I. & N. Dec. 56, 58 (BIA 2006) (“A motion to reconsider

13 based on a legal argument that could have been raised

14 earlier in the proceedings will be denied.”).

15 Although the Petitioners alternatively challenge the

16 Immigration Judge’s initial determination that they failed

17 to establish a nexus between the incidents they described

18 and a protected ground, we are “precluded from passing on

19 the merits of the underlying [removal] proceedings” in

20 considering the BIA’s denial of the Petitioners’ motion to

21 reopen. Ke Zhen Zhao v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 265 F.3d 83,

22 90 (2d Cir. 2001). 
5

1 Finally, although the Petitioners argue that the BIA

2 erred by failing to address whether they are eligible for

3 humanitarian asylum, such relief would only have been

4 available had the the BIA reopened their proceedings. See 

5 8 C.F.R. §§ 1003.2(c)(1); 1208.13(b)(1)(iii). 

6 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is

7 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of

8 removal that the Court previously granted in this petition

9 is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in

10 this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for

11 oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with

12 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second

13 Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b).

14 FOR THE COURT: 

15 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk

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