FI L ED

U.S. COURT OF APPEAL S

EL EVENTH CI RCUI T

FEB RUARY 12, 2010

J OHN L EY

CL ERK [ D O N O T P U B L I S H ]

I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C I R C U I T

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

N o

. 0 9

- 1 3 6 0 4

N o n

- A r g u m e n t C a l e n d a r

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A g e n c y N o s

. A 0 9 5

- 2 1 6

- 0 3 7

, A 0 9 5

- 2 1 6

- 0 3 8

C A R L O S O R L A N D O G O N Z A L E Z

,

M A R T H A L U C I A V E R U

,

P e t i t i o n e r s

,

v e r s u s

U

. S

. A T T O R N E Y G E N E R A L

,

R e s p o n d e n t

.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

P e t i t i o n f o r R e v i e w o f a D e c i s i o n o f t h e

B o a r d o f I m m i g r a t i o n A p p e a l s

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

( F e b r u a r y 1 2

, 2 0 1 0 )

B e f o r e B I R C H

, W I L S O N a n d F A Y

, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

.

P E R C U R I A M :C a r l o s O r l a n d o G o n z a l e z

, a n a t i v e a n d c i t i z e n o f C o l o m b i a

, p e t i t i o n s f o r 1

r e v i e w o f t h e B o a r d o f I m m i g r a t i o n A p p e a l s ’ s ( “ B I A ” ) d e n i a l o f h i s m o t i o n t o

r e c o n s i d e r i t s d i s m i s s a l o f h i s a p p e a l f r o m t h e i m m i g r a t i o n j u d g e ’ s ( “ I J ” ) o r d e r o f

r e m o v a l

. H e a r g u e s t h a t t h e B I A i n c o r r e c t l y c o n c l u d e d t h a t h e h a d f a i l e d t o

e s t a b l i s h a n e x u s b e t w e e n h i s p u r p o r t e d p e r s e c u t i o n b y t h e C o l o m b i a n

R e v o l u t i o n a r y A r m e d F o r c e s ( “ F A R C ” ) a n d h i s p o l i t i c a l o p i n i o n

.

I

. J u r i s d i c t i o n t o C o n s i d e r M e r i t s o f t h e B I A ’ S D i s m i s s a l o

f D i r e c t A p

p e a l

W e r e v i e w q u e s t i o n s o f s u b j e c t m a t t e r j u r i s d i c t i o n d e n o v o

. A m a y a

A r t u n d u a g a v

. U

. S

. A t t ’ y G e n

. , 4 6 3 F

. 3 d 1 2 4 7

, 1 2 5 0 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 6 ) ( p e r c u r i a m )

.

W h i l e w e g e n e r a l l y h a v e j u r i s d i c t i o n t o r e v i e w f i n a l o r d e r s o f r e m o v a l

, a p e t i t i o n

f o r r e v i e w m u s t b e f

i l e d w i t h i n 3 0 d a y s f

r o m t h e d a t e o f t h e f

i n a l o r d e r o f r e m o v a l

.

I N A § 2 4 2 ( a ) ( 1 )

, ( b ) ( 1 )

, 8 U

. S

. C

. § 1 2 5 2 ( a ) ( 1 )

, ( b ) ( 1 )

. B e c a u s e t h e s t a t u t o r y t i m e

l i m i t a t i o n i s m a n d a t o r y a n d j u r i s d i c t i o n a l

, i t i s n o t s u b j e c t t o e q u i t a b l e t o l l i n g

.

D a k a n e v

. U

. S

. A t t ’ y G e n

. , 3 9 9 F

. 3 d 1 2 6 9

, 1 2 7 2

– 7 3 n

. 3 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 5 ) ( p e r

c u r i a m )

. A m o t i o n t o r e c o n s i d e r d o e s n o t s u s p e n d t h e f i n a l i t y o f t h e o r d e r o f

r e m o v a l a n d d o e s n o t t o l l t h e r e v i e w p e r i o d

. S t o n e v

. I N S

, 5 1 4 U

. S

. 3 8 6

, 4 0 5

, 1 1 5

S

. C t

. 1 5 3 7

, 1 5 4 9 ( 1 9 9 5 ) ( c o n s t r u i n g t h e f o r m e r 9 0

- d a y f

i l i n g p e r i o d )

.

T h e o r d e r o f r e m o v a l i n t h i s c a s e b e c a m e f i n a l w h e n t h e B I A d i s m i s s e d

G o n z a l e z ’ s a p p e a l i n O c t o b e r 2 0 0 8

. G o n z a l e z d i d n o t f i l e h i s p e t i t i o n f

o r r e v i e w

Gonzalez is t he lea d petitioner on beha lf of himself and his wife , Martha L ucia Ve ru. 1

2u n t i l J u l y 2 0 0 9

, m o r e t h a n 3 0 d a y s a f t e r t h e B I A ’ s d i s m i s s a l o f h i s a p p e a l

. H i s

m o t i o n t o r e c o n s i d e r d i d n o t t o l l t h e l i m i t a t i o n s p e r i o d f o r f i l i n g h i s p e t i t i o n f

o r

r e v i e w

. T h e r e f

o r e

, w e l a c k j u r i s d i c t i o n o v e r h i s c l a i m i n s o f a r a s i t d i r e c t l y

c h a l l e n g e s t h e o r d e r o f r e m o v a l a n d d i r e c t a p p e a l

.

I I

. D e n i a l o

f M o t i o n t o R e c o n s i d e r

W e r e v i e w t h e d e n i a l o f a m o t i o n t o r e c o n s i d e r f o r a b u s e o f d i s c r e t i o n

. 2

C a l l e v

. U

. S

. A t t ’ y G e n

. , 5 0 4 F

. 3 d 1 3 2 4

, 1 3 2 8 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 7 ) ( c i t a t i o n o m i t t e d )

.

O u r r e v i e w “ i s l i m i t e d t o d e t e r m i n i n g w h e t h e r t h e r e h a s b e e n a n e x e r c i s e o f

a d m i n i s t r a t i v e d i s c r e t i o n a n d w h e t h e r t h e m a t t e r o f e x e r c i s e h a s b e e n a r b i t r a r y o r

c a p r i c i o u s

. ” G a r c i a

- M i r v

. S m i t h

, 7 6 6 F

. 2 d 1 4 7 8

, 1 4 9 0 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 1 9 8 5 ) ( p e r

c u r i a m ) ( q u o t a t i o n a n d c i t a t i o n o m i t t e d )

.

A m o t i o n t o r e c o n s i d e r m u s t s p e c i f y “ t h e e r r o r s o f f

a c t o r l a w i n t h e p r i o r

B o a r d d e c i s i o n a n d [ m u s t ] b e s u p p o r t e d b y p e r t i n e n t a u t h o r i t y

. ” 8 C

. F

. R

.

§ 1 0 0 3

. 2 ( b ) ( 1 )

. H o w e v e r

, s i m p l y r e i t e r a t i n g a r g u m e n t s p r e v i o u s l y p r e s e n t e d t o t h e

The Gove rnment ar g ues that Gonzalez has aba ndoned his cha lleng e to the motion to 2

rec onsider by

failing to brief a

ny revie wable a

rg ument. See Se

pulveda v . U.S. Att’y Ge n. , 401

F.3d 1226, 1228–29 n.2 ( 11th Cir. 2005) (per curia m) (holding that when a n appellant f

ails to

offe r ar g ument on an issue or ma kes only passing ref

ere nces to it, the brief

is insufficient to raise

a cla im and the issue is abandone d). Gonzalez’s initial brief make s a passing ref ere nce to the

motion to reconsider in his statement of the issue prese nted. Other wise, his brief disc usses only

the merits of his per secution cla im and applies the substantial-e vidence standard a pplicable to

direc t appea ls. Howeve r, bec ause his motion to reopen a nd his direct appe al involved the same

arg uments, and Gonzales esse ntially quotes, althoug h does not direc tly cite, the B I A’s dismissal

of his motion for rec onsideration, we will not deem Gonzalez to have aba ndoned his appe al from

the denial of

the motion to reconsider

. 3B I A d o e s n o t c o n s t i t u t e “ s p e c i f y i n g

. . . e r r o r s o f f

a c t o r l a w

. ” C a l l e

, 5 0 4 F

. 3 d a t

1 3 2 9

.

T h e B I A f

o u n d t h a t G o n z a l e z ’ s “ r e n e w e d a r g u m e n t s i n t h e m o t i o n

. . . f a i l t o

e s t a b l i s h e r r o r i n o u r d e c i s i o n a f f i r m i n g t h e I m m i g r a t i o n J u d g e

. ” A

. R

. a t 3

. I t t h e n

r e i t e r a t e d i t s c o n c l u s i o n t h a t t h e p e t i t i o n e r s d i d n o t s h o w a n y n e x u s b e t w e e n t h e i r

p e r s e c u t i o n a n d a p r o t e c t e d g r o u n d

. G o n z a l e z d i d n o t r a i s e a n y e r r o r s o f f a c t o r

l a w

, a n d i n s t e a d r e i t e r a t e d t h e a r g u m e n t s h e h a d m a d e b e l o w c o n c e r n i n g a d v e r s e

c r e d i b i l i t y a n d p e r s e c u t i o n o n a c c o u n t o f p o l i t i c a l o p i n i o n

. T h e B I A d i d n o t a b u s e

i t s d i s c r e t i o n i n f

i n d i n g t h a t G o n z a l e z h a d n o t s p e c i f i e d a n y e r r o r i n f

a c t o r l a w

.

T o t h e e x t e n t t h a t G o n z a l e z s u g g e s t s a p o s s i b l e e r r o r o f l a w i n t h e B I A ’ s

r e v i e w o f t h e n e x u s

- t o

- a

- p r o t e c t e d

- g r o u n d i s s u e

, w e l a c k j u r i s d i c t i o n t o r e v i e w t h a t

a r g u m e n t b e c a u s e h e d i d n o t b r i n g t h e p u r p o r t e d e r r o r t o t h e B I A ’ s a t t e n t i o n i n h i s

m o t i o n t o r e c o n s i d e r

. A b s e n t a c o g n i z a b l e e x c u s e o r e x c e p t i o n

, w e l a c k

j u r i s d i c t i o n t o r e v i e w a n a r g u m e n t u n l e s s t h e p e t i t i o n e r h a s f i r s t e x h a u s t e d h i s

a d m i n i s t r a t i v e r e m e d i e s

. A m a y a

- A r t u n d u a g a

, 4 6 3 F

. 3 d a t 1 2 5 0 ( c i t a t i o n o m i t t e d )

.

F o r t h e f o r e g o i n g r e a s o n s

, w e d e n y G o n z a l e z ’ s p e t i t i o n f o r r e v i e w

.

P E T I T I O N D E N I E D

.

4