Case Name: Julio Donaldo PONCE-LEIVA, Petitioner v. John D. ASHCROFT, Attorney General of the United States, Respondent
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2003-06-05
Citations: 331 F.3d 369
Docket Number: No. 01-2900
Parties: Julio Donaldo PONCE-LEIVA, Petitioner v. John D. ASHCROFT, Attorney General of the United States, Respondent.
Judges: Before SLOVITER, RENDELL, Circuit Judges and MeCLURE, District Judge.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 3d Series
Volume: 331
Pages: 369–386

Head Matter:
Julio Donaldo PONCE-LEIVA, Petitioner v. John D. ASHCROFT, Attorney General of the United States, Respondent.
No. 01-2900.
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.
Argued Sept. 13, 2002.
June 5, 2003.
Steven A. Morley (Argued), Bagia & Morley, Philadelphia, for Petitioner.
Robert D. McCallum, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Ernesto H. Molina, Senior Litigation Counsel, Regina Byrd (Argued), Attorney, Michael P. Lindemann, Attorney, Lyle D. Jentzer, Attorney, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United State Justice Department, Washington, for Respondent.
Before SLOVITER, RENDELL, Circuit Judges and MeCLURE, District Judge.
Hon. James F. McClure, Jr., Senior Judge, United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation.

Opinion:
OPINION OF THE COURT
MeCLURE, District Judge.
This is a petition for review of a final order of removal issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The BIA affirmed the immigration judge's decision that Julio Donaldo Ponce-Leiva was removable and ineligible for asylum. Ponce-Leiva presents us with two questions. First, did the immigration judge's decision to hold an asylum hearing after Ponce-Leiva's attorney suddenly refused to appear constitute a denial of Ponce-Leiva's right to counsel? Second, did the immigration attorney's failure to appear at the hearing or make a timely request for a continuance constitute ineffective assistance of counsel?
We have jurisdiction to review the BIA's final order. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(2). We will deny Ponce-Leiva's petition for review.
I.
On April 17, 1997, Ponce-Leiva, a native and citizen of Guatemala, received personal service of a Notice to Appear. The Notice to Appear stated that because Ponee-Leiva had, six years earlier, entered the United States without being inspected or admitted by an immigration officer, he was in violation of § 212(a)(6)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA). It informed Ponee-Leiva that a hearing was scheduled for September 9, 1997. Administrative Record (A.R.) at 119-20.
At the September 9, 1997 hearing, Ponee-Leiva appeared without counsel. The immigration judge informed him of his right to counsel and continued the hearing until November 4, 1997, giving Ponee-Leiva an opportunity to obtain representation.
On November 4, 1997, Ponce-Leiva appeared at the hearing, and this time he was accompanied by counsel. Through counsel, Ponce-Leiva admitted removability and stated that he would pursue asylum. The immigration judge scheduled the merits hearing for July 1, 1998.
On June 29, 1998, two days before the merits hearing, the immigration court received a letter from counsel dated June 25, 1998 requesting a continuance. According to the letter, Counsel would be unavailable for the merits hearing because he planned to be in San Diego. In the letter, counsel offered alternative dates for the hearing. Id. at 109.
On the same day, June 29, 1998, the immigration judge denied counsel's continuance request. The order gave the judge's reason, stating that "you accepted this date on November 4, 1997." Id. at 110.
On July 1, 1998, the merits hearing was held as scheduled. Ponce-Leiva's asylum application raised two grounds for asylum: (1) he needed a job in order to support his family; and (2) if he returned to Guatemala; he would be homeless because his family could not support him. Id. at 104. After explaining that he would proceed with the hearing, the immigration judge questioned Ponce-Leiva on his bases for asylum.
Through a written order and an oral decision, the immigration judge announced his decisions to deny the request for continuance and to deny Ponce-Leiva's application for asylum. Id. at 36-39.
The immigration judge elaborated upon his reason for denying the continuance request. He stated that continuing the hearing was not in Ponce-Leiva's best interest. He noted that while counsel has been collecting fees from Ponce-Leiva, he failed to provide Ponce-Leiva with advice on how to stay in the country. The immigration judge stated that although counsel agreed eight months earlier to appear at the hearing, he abandoned Ponce-Leiva at the last minute. The judge concluded that without any evidence that counsel was a benefit to Ponce-Leiva, Ponce-Leiva was better off if the judge went forward with the hearing. Next, the judge gave more reasons for denying the continuance request: (1) the taxpayers paid for the court time set aside for Ponce-Leiva's case; (2) the expectations of the INS would be upset if cases such as Ponce-Leiva's could not be orderly processed; (3) the ability of the immigration court to manage its docket would be impeded if attorneys could shirk their responsibilities in such a manner; and (4) according to Matter of Santos, 19 I & N Dec. 105, 1984 WL 48592 (BIA 1984), the absence of counsel is not necessarily prejudicial error.
The immigration judge then commented on his reasons for denying Ponce-Leiva's application for asylum:
The respondent freely acknowledged that he is an economic migrant and not a "refugee." He stated this in his asylum application. When the Court interrogated him to see if there was any other aspect of his case, it found none. Again, the respondent honestly stated that he came to the United States in order to support himself and his family. The facts show clearly that the respondent was never persecuted in the past, or that he faces a reasonable possibility thereof on account of any factor protected by the [INA].
A.R. at 39. The immigration judge granted voluntary departure.
Ponce-Leiva appealed to the BIA. In his notice of appeal, Ponce-Leiva claimed that in denying the request for continuance, the immigration judge abused his discretion. Id. at 26. In his brief to the BIA, Ponce-Leiva argued that (1) the absence of counsel violated his right to counsel and his due process rights; and (2) counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel, which violated his due process rights. Id. at 9-12. The brief contained no explicit reference to the immigration judge's decision to deny the continuance request.
On September 24, 2001, the BIA affirmed the immigration judge's decision and dismissed the appeal.
As for the due process claim relating to the absence of counsel, the BIA stated the following:
(1) Because Ponce-Leiva could not show that he was prejudiced by the absence of counsel, there was no due process violation;
(2) "[I]n any event, we have determined that the absence of counsel at his hearing does not alter our conclusion that the decision of the Immigration Judge is correct." The government states that the "decision" referred to in this sentence is the decision to deny counsel's continuance request. Government's Brief at 11.
(3) "We find no procedural or legal errors indicating that [Ponce-Leiva] was either deprived of a full and fair hearing or denied the opportunity to apply for all available forms of relief from removal." Id. at 3.
As for ineffective assistance, the BIA rejected that claim, explaining that Ponce-Leiva could neither show that his proceedings were fundamentally unfair nor show that he was prejudiced by counsel's performance. Id.
II.
Before we may decide whether Ponce-Leiva's rights were violated, we first must determine whether the claims are properly before the court. The government dedicates much of its brief to arguing that Ponce-Leiva waived the claims he raises before us.
In his brief to this court, Ponce-Leiva raises the following claims: (1) the denial of the continuance request and the subsequent holding of the hearing was a denial of his right to counsel, and (2) counsel's performance constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. According to the government, both claims are barred.
The government contends that Ponce-Leiva is barred from raising with this court a claim that is based on the denial of the continuance request. It advances two arguments. First, it asserts that in determining whether Ponce-Leiva's due process rights were violated, the BIA did not consider the immigration judge's denial of the continuance request. Rather, according to the government, the BIA referred to the denial of the continuance request only in the context of whether the immigration judge abused his discretion in denying the request. The government contends that, therefore, Ponce-Leiva's current link between the continuance request and due process was not found in the BIA's final order (which is the order appealed from) and thus not properly before this court. Second, the government states that Ponce-Leiva failed in his appeal to the BIA to equate the denial of the continuance request with the denial of his due process rights. It argues that accordingly, Ponce-Leiva failed to exhaust this claim, which as a result is now barred from judicial review.
As for the claim for ineffective assistance of counsel, the government argues that because it is raised here in a different fashion than the way it was raised before the BIA, we may not review it. The government points to the fact that while the ineffective-assistance claim before the BIA related to whether the immigration judge denied Ponce-Leiva his due process rights, the ineffective-assistance claim before this court related to whether Ponce-Leiva complied with the procedural requirements announced in Matter of Lozada, 19 I. & N. Dec. 637, 1988 WL 236454 (BIA 1988). Therefore, the government argues, the BIA did not consider the instant ineffectiveness claim, and the claim is thus exhausted.
We reject the government's arguments, and we find that each of Ponce-Leiva's claims is properly before this court.
First, the due process claim is inextricably linked with the immigration judge's denial of the continuance request. Ponce-Leiva's assertion that his right to counsel was violated is based solely on the immigration judge's decision to deny the continuance request. While it would have been preferable for Ponce-Leiva to have taken greater pains in equating the denial of the continuance request with the violation of his due process rights, the two claims are one and the same. This finding is consistent with the government's position that the BIA's order, in a sentence that did not mention the continuance request, actually addressed the continuance argument. Accordingly, in part by the government's own admissions, the issue regarding the denial of the continuance request appeared both in the BIA's order and in Ponce-Leiva's submission to the BIA, and it forms the basis of Ponce-Leiva's due process claims. Thus, no procedural bar exists.
Second, Ponce-Leiva's claim for ineffective assistance of counsel was not waived. We note that Lozada sets forth a three-step procedure that an alien must follow to justify the reopening of removal proceedings on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. The steps include, inter alia, filing a motion and giving the allegedly ineffective counsel an opportunity to respond. Lu v. Ashcroft, 259 F.3d 127, 132 (3d Cir.2001) (citing Lozada, 19 I. & N. Dec. at 639). We concluded in Lu that the BIA's three-prong test was a reasonable exercise of the BIA's discretion, id. at 132, but we also warned that there were inherent dangers in applying a strict, formulaic interpretation of Lozada. Id. at 133. While Ponce-Leiva's brief places most of its emphasis on showing that he has fulfilled Lozada's requirements, it also suggests that counsel's ineffectiveness was a denial of due process. Accordingly, we may analyze the claim, at least within the parameters of due process.
III.
As stated above, Ponce-Leiva now raises the following claims: (1) the denial of the continuance request and the subsequent holding of the hearing constituted a violation of his statutory and constitutional right to counsel and a violation of due process; and (2) counsel's unreasonable absence at the hearing constituted ineffective assistance of counsel.
First, we consider whether denial of the continuance request violated PonceLeiva's right to counsel. It is well-established that an alien at an immigration hearing has some form of right to counsel. It is equally well-settled, though, that "there is no Sixth Amendment right to counsel in deportation hearings." Uspango v. Ashcroft, 289 F.3d 226, 231 (3d Cir.2002). Deportation proceedings are not "criminal prosecutions." An alien's right to counsel has been designated, at different times, as both constitutional and statutory. The statutory right is encoded in INA § 240(b)(4), which states that "the alien shall have the privilege of being represented, at no expense to the Government, by counsel of alien's choosing who is authorized to practice in such proceedings." 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(4)(A). This statutory provision has been tracked in the applicable INS regulations. See 8 C.F.R. § 3.16(b), 240.3, 292.1, and 292.5. The constitutional right to counsel is based upon the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of due process of law. Uspango, 289 F.3d at 231.
While it is clear that aliens have both a statutory and a constitutional right to counsel, it is unclear how the two relate to each other. Courts of appeals have presented this relationship in different ways. According to the Ninth Circuit, due process is violated only if a violation of the statutory right to counsel is accompanied by significant prejudice. See, e.g., Castro- O'Ryan v. U.S. Dep't. of Immigration and Naturalization, 847 F.2d 1307, 1313 (9th Cir.1987). The First Circuit has recognized both rights, but it has considered them without distinguishing them. See, e.g., Nelson v. INS, 232 F.3d 258, 261 (1st Cir.2000). The Eighth Circuit has also recognized both, and it has suggested (but not explicitly stated) that in order for a due process violation to be found, the deprivation must be especially egregious. See, e.g., United States v. Torres-Sanchez, 68 F.3d 227, 230-31 (8th Cir.1995).
Ponce-Leiva's counsel stated at oral argument that in order for Ponce-Leiva's right to counsel to have been violated, the immigration judge must have abused his discretion by denying the continuance request.
We find that there was no abuse of discretion or denial of Ponce-Leiva's right to counsel. The immigration judge was faced with counsel's flagrant violation of the practices and procedures of the immigration court. Counsel had been informed eight months prior to the hearing of the date on which the hearing was to be held and had agreed then to that date. His last-minute letter requesting a continuance and his failure to secure alternate counsel were plainly inadequate. No emergency on the part of counsel was alleged. Indeed, no reason was given for counsel's trip to San Diego. The government was ready to proceed, and the court and the taxpayers had an interest in disposing of Ponce-Leiva's case. Further, the immigration judge made a reasonable determination that in light of counsel's previous deficient performance with respect to Ponce-Leiva, his absence at the hearing would have made no difference.
The dissent cites a number of cases in which courts of appeals found that an immigration judge's denial of a continuance request and subsequent holding of a hearing constituted an abuse of discretion. The cases discussed in the most detail are Castaneda-Delgado v. INS, 525 F.2d 1295 (7th Cir.1975), and a case from this court, Chlomos v. INS, 516 F.2d 310 (3d Cir.1975). The dissent argues that our decision is contrary to these cases and is therefore incorrect. We disagree. We believe that each is distinguishable.
In Castaneda-Delgado, the petitioners, who spoke no English, stated at their initial hearing that they wished to obtain representation. The judge granted a two-day continuance in order for them to secure an attorney. At the hearing two days later, the petitioners were still without a lawyer, and the judge denied their request for another continuance. The Seventh Circuit found that the judge's denial was "arbitrary and capricious and constituted a gross abuse of discretion." Castaneda-Delgado, 525 F.2d at 1300.
We agree that giving the Castaneda-Delgado petitioners a mere two days to secure counsel — and then proceeding with the hearing when they unsurprisingly did not have a lawyer — was an abuse of discretion. Ordering the petitioners to make a mad dash for representation — and then proceeding without counsel when they could not comply with the order — was fundamentally unfair. In the instant case, however, Ponce-Leiva already had an attorney, and the attorney knew eight months in advance the date of the merits hearing. He simply decided that he was not going to show up. The immigration judge took into consideration the burden on the government and on the taxpayers, and it was not unreasonable for the immigration judge to decide that a further continuance was not warranted.
In Chlomos, the petitioner was subject to a deportation hearing. He was already represented by counsel, but, notwithstand ing various continuances, he was unable to contact his attorney, and the court never gave notice to the attorney that the petitioner was in the process of deportation proceedings. The immigration court held the hearing without the petitioner's attorney. We found that the petitioner's right to counsel was violated: "We disapprove of an administrative agency scheduling a hearing for a person who it knows is represented by counsel without giving notice to the lawyer." Chlomos, 516 F.2d at 313. Our grievance with the immigration court in Chlomos was with the court's decision to hold a hearing without the petitioner's attorney being notified. In the instant case, counsel for Ponce-Leiva knew months in advance about the hearing, but he failed to appear. The facts are distinguishable, as is our rationale for ruling against Ponce-Leiva.
As we stated in Chlomos, "[w]e do not condone unnecessary delay or dilatory tactics through the ruse of counsel's unavailability." Id. at 314. While the dissent is correct in that the immigration judge in Ponce-Leiva's case was presented with no evidence of "unnecessary delay or dilatory tactics through the ruse of counsel's unavailability," the onus was on counsel to provide an adequate reason for his failure to appear. In Castaneda-Delgado and Chlomos, either the petitioners were unrepresented (Castaneda-Delgado) or counsel was uninformed of the deportation hearing (Chlomos). In both of these cases, the right to counsel was no doubt violated. In the instant case, however, Ponce-Leiva was represented, and counsel knew of his obligations. Counsel's failure to discharge his duties did not mean that Ponce-Leiva's "right to counsel" was violated; Ponce-Leiva was simply the victim of poor lawyering.
Our holding is consistent with the Eighth Circuit's statement that with respect to immigration proceedings, "the mere inability to obtain counsel does not constitute a violation of due process." Torres-Sanchez, 68 F.3d at 231. Cases arising from the Eighth Circuit, the Tenth Circuit, and even the Ninth Circuit itself have applied this rule. See id; Nazakat v. INS, 981 F.2d 1146, 1148 (10th Cir.1992); Vides-Vides v. INS, 783 F.2d 1463, 1470 (9th Cir.1986). In each of these cases, the petitioner, after being given ample time, was unable to secure representation for an immigration hearing, and the immigration judge nevertheless proceeded with the hearing. In the instant case, Ponce-Leiva was given ample time to obtain counsel, and he in fact did so. He was unable, however, to secure counsel's presence at the hearing. This mere "inability to obtain counsel" was not a violation of due process, or a denial of Ponce-Leiva's right to counsel.
We note that in making its decision, the BIA determined that the immigration judge fulfilled his obligations under the INA, which states that "the alien shall have a reasonable opportunity to examine the evidence against the alien [and] to present evidence on the alien's own behalf." 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(4)(B). In so doing, the BIA concluded that the absence of counsel does not necessarily violate the INA. The BIA's interpretation of the alien's statutory right to counsel is an interpretation of INS. regulations to which we give "great deference." Abdille v. Ashcroft, 242 F.3d 477, 484 (3d Cir.2001) (citations omitted).
Ponce-Leiva was not denied the right to counsel, and he was not denied the opportunity to obtain the counsel of his choice. His attorney simply failed to come through for him. While this is unfortunate, Ponce-Leiva's right to counsel was not violated.
The dissent alludes to a number of cases from the Ninth Circuit holding that an immigration judge's denial of a continuance request both constituted an abuse of discretion and violated the alien's right to counsel. See Reyes-Palacios v. INS, 836 F.2d 1154 (9th Cir.1988); Colindres-Aguilar v. INS, 819 F.2d 259 (9th Cir.1987); Rios-Berrios v. INS, 776 F.2d 859 (9th Cir.1985); Castro Nuno v. INS, 577 F.2d 577 (9th Cir.1978). Reyes-Palacios and Rios-Berrios are analogous to Castaneda-Delgado, that is, when the immigration judge decided to proceed with the hearing, the alien had not yet obtained representation. These facts are distinguishable from the instant facts, in which Ponce-Leiva had already obtained the counsel of his choice. Colindres-Aguilar and particularly Castro Nuno, however, are similar to the instant case in that the alien already was represented but the attorney inexplicably failed to appear. The Ninth Circuit found that under the circumstances of those cases, the scenarios presented a denial of the alien's right to counsel. Nevertheless, to the extent that the facts in those cases may be similar to those in the instant case, we are not thereby persuaded that our conclusions are incorrect.
We agree with the Ninth Circuit's view that the resolution of this type of case is fact-driven: "The question whether denial of a continuance in an immigration proceeding constitutes an abuse of discretion cannot be decided through the application of bright-line rules; it must be resolved on a case by case basis according to the facts and circumstances of each case." Baires v. INS, 856 F.2d 89, 91 (9th Cir.1988) (citation omitted). In this case, one of the circumstances which the immigration judge apparently factored into his decision to deny the continuance was the facial lack of merit in Ponce-Leiva's application for asylum. This initial impression was borne out by the evidence presented at the hearing. It was clear at the outset, however, that Ponce-Leiva's claim for asylum was based solely on economic reasons, and therefore would not merit relief. By making this observation, we do not intend to imply that a continuance must be granted if a claim is facially meritorious. We do believe it is reasonable and proper for an immigration judge to consider the apparent lack of merit in a claim when deciding to proceed without counsel.
We do not suggest that there could never be a violation of due process by the failure to grant a continuance to an asylum seeker who is without counsel. However, under the facts and circumstances of the instant ease, the immigration judge's denial of the continuance request did not constitute an abuse of discretion, did not violate Ponce-Leiva's statutory right to counsel, and did not violate any of Ponce-Leiva's constitutional rights. In Chlomos, in which we ruled that an alien's right to counsel was violated, we found that there existed an "undue curtailment of the privilege of representation." Chlomos, 516 F.2d at 311. That was not the case here. No further due-process discussion is necessary.
IV.
Ponce-Leiva next advances a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel. This claim is based on the Fifth Amendment due process clause. Uspango, 289 F.3d at 231. To advance a successful claim for ineffective assistance of counsel, an alien must demonstrate prejudice — he "must show that he was prevented from reasonably presenting his case." Id. (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Ponce-Leiva has not met this burden. He admits removability, and he makes no attempt to show that the questions asked by the immigration judge did not give him the opportunity to present his case fully. Counsel's absence did not prej udice Ponce-Leiva, and therefore Ponce-Leiva's ineffectiveness claim must fail.
V.
Because the immigration judge's denial of the continuance request did not violate Ponce-Leiva's right to counsel or constitute an abuse of discretion, and because Ponce-Leiva's claim for ineffective assistance of counsel also fails, we will deny the petition for review.