Source: http://openjurist.org/961/f2d/1344/wijeratne-v-immigration-and-naturalization-service
Timestamp: 2013-12-10 10:48:37
Document Index: 351749002

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1252', '§ 1251', '§ 1158', '§ 1253', '§ 1105', '§ 1252']

961 F2d 1344 Wijeratne v. Immigration and Naturalization Service | OpenJurist
961 F. 2d 1344 - Wijeratne v. Immigration and Naturalization Service	Home961 f2d 1344 wijeratne v. immigration and naturalization service
961 F2d 1344 Wijeratne v. Immigration and Naturalization Service 961 F.2d 1344
Allen M. WIJERATNE, formerly known as Allen M. Lowe, Petitioner,v.IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Respondent.
No. 90-2482.
Patrick W. Lee, J. Michael Klise (argued), M. Claire Brier, Crowell & Moring, Washington, D.C., Eileen Doran, Barbara S. Gasperetti, Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame, Ind., for petitioner.
Ira H. Raphaelson, Asst. U.S. Atty., Crim. Div., Chicago, Ill., Alison R. Drucker, David J. Kline, David M. McConnell (argued), Dept. of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, Richard L. Thornburg, U.S. Atty. Gen., Washington, D.C., Michael L. Harper, I.N.S., Chicago, Ill., for respondent.
Petitioner Allen Margaret Wijeratne seeks review of a final decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("the BIA") denying her motion to reopen deportation proceedings and ordering her deported to Sri Lanka. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we deny the petition for review and affirm the decision of the BIA.
Allen Margaret Wijeratne is a native and citizen of Sri Lanka. In March, 1987, she illegally entered the United States through Mexico. On March 23, 1987, the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("the INS") caught Wijeratne in El Paso, Texas and began deportation proceedings. On April 1, 1987, an accredited representative with the Catholic Social Services of Laredo, Texas, filed an appearance on Wijeratne's behalf.1 On May 13, 1987, a deportation hearing was scheduled for June 8, 1987 before an immigration judge ("the IJ") in San Antonio, Texas, and notice of the hearing was sent to Wijeratne's representative of record. Shortly before the scheduled hearing, Wijeratne moved to New York. She left a forwarding address with her representative. Four days before her June 8th hearing, Wijeratne filed a motion to transfer venue to New York. The IJ denied the motion as untimely but ruled that the motion could be raised again at the hearing. Neither Wijeratne nor her representative appeared at the June 8th hearing.
The IJ rescheduled the hearing for June 22, 1987. Notice of this hearing was sent to Wijeratne's representative on June 12, 1987. By the time this notice was sent, however, Wijeratne had moved again and had not notified the IJ or her representative of her new address. Again, Wijeratne failed to appear at the hearing. The IJ held the hearing anyway, in absentia. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b). Based on documents submitted by the INS, the IJ found that Wijeratne was deportable as an alien who entered the United States without inspection, see 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(1)(B), and ordered her deported to Sri Lanka.
Five months later, on November 13, 1987, Wijeratne filed a motion to reopen deportation proceedings to present claims of asylum, 8 U.S.C. § 1158, and withholding of deportation, 8 U.S.C. § 1253(h). The IJ denied the motion finding that Wijeratne had not established good cause for failing to appear at the hearings or for the extended delay in filing the motion to reopen. Wijeratne appealed to the BIA, and the BIA affirmed.
Wijeratne seeks review of the BIA's decision affirming the IJ's denial of her motion to reopen deportation proceedings. The BIA's decision is a "final order" subject to judicial review in the United States courts of appeal. 8 U.S.C. § 1105a(a); INS v. Abudu, 485 U.S. 94, 96, 108 S.Ct. 904, 907, 99 L.Ed.2d 90 (1988); Oviawe v. INS, 853 F.2d 1428, 1430 (7th Cir.1988). Wijeratne raises two issues. First, she argues that the IJ violated 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b) and due process by conducting the deportation hearing in absentia. Second, Wijeratne argues that the BIA abused its discretion by affirming the IJ's denial of her motion to reopen without considering the evidence she submitted in support of the political asylum and withholding of deportation claims.