Case Name: Jose Amilcar GAITAN-CORTEZ, Petitioner, v. Eric H. HOLDER, Jr., United States Attorney General, Respondent
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2010-03-16
Citations: 369 F. App'x 305
Docket Number: No. 09-3563-ag
Parties: Jose Amilcar GAITAN-CORTEZ, Petitioner, v. Eric H. HOLDER, Jr., United States Attorney General, Respondent.
Judges: PRESENT: DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judge, KIMBA M. WOOD, District Judge.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 369
Pages: 305–307

Head Matter:
Jose Amilcar GAITAN-CORTEZ, Petitioner, v. Eric H. HOLDER, Jr., United States Attorney General, Respondent.
No. 09-3563-ag.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.
March 16, 2010.
Jose Amilcar Gaitan-Cortez, West New York, NJ, pro se.
Jessica Segall, Trial Attorney, Office of Immigration Litigation (Tony West, Assistant Attorney General; Leslie McKay, Assistant Director, Office of Immigration Litigation, on the brief), United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
PRESENT: DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judge, KIMBA M. WOOD, District Judge.
The Hon. Kimba M. Wood, Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation.
The Hon. Rosemary S. Pooler, originally assigned to this panel, did not participate in the consideration of this appeal. The remaining two members of the panel, who are in agreement, have determined this matter. See Second Circuit Internal Operating Procedure E(b); 28 U.S.C. § 46(d); United States v. Desimone, 140 F.3d 457 (2d Cir.1998).

Opinion:
SUMMARY ORDER
Petitioner Jose Amilcar Gaitan-Cortez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, seeks review of the July 24, 2009, order of the BIA affirming the August 4, 2008, decision of Immigration Judge ("I J") Philip J. Mon-tante, Jr., ordering him removed to El Salvador. In re Jose Amilcar Gaitan Cortez, No. [ A XXX XXX XXX ] (B.I.A. July 24, 2009), aff'g No. [ A XXX XXX XXX ] (Immig. Ct. Buffalo, N.Y. Aug. 4, 2008). We assume the parties' familiarity with the underlying facts of the case, procedural history, and issues for review on appeal.
Under the circumstances of this case, this Court reviews the decision of the IJ as supplemented by the BIA. See Yan Chen v. Gonzales, 417 F.3d 268, 271 (2d Cir.2005). We review the agency's factual findings under the substantial evidence standard. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(4)(B); see also Manzur v. DHS, 494 F.3d 281, 289 (2d Cir.2007). The Court reviews de novo questions of law and the application of law to undisputed fact. See Bah v. Mukasey, 529 F.3d 99, 110 (2d Cir.2008).
Due process in removal proceedings requires "notice" to the alien "of the nature of the charges and a meaningful opportunity to be heard," Pierre v. Holder, 588 F.3d 767, 776 (2d Cir.2009) (internal quotation mark omitted), and that the proceedings be otherwise fundamentally fair, Xiao Ji Chen v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 434 F.3d 144, 155 (2d Cir.2006), vacated on other grounds, 471 F.3d 315 (2d Cir.2006); see also Burger v. Gonzales, 498 F.3d 131, 134 (2d Cir.2007). Even where an alien shows that due process was denied, he can prevail only if he shows "some cognizable prejudice fairly attributable to the challenged process." Garcia-Villeda v. Mukasey, 531 F.3d 141, 149 (2d Cir.2008) (internal quotation marks omitted).
In this case, we conclude that the IJ did not violate Gaitan-Cortez's due process rights by failing to provide him with an opportunity to cross-examine the Border Patrol agent who prepared his Form 1-213 Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien, on which the IJ based his conclusion that Petitioner was removable. We have held that "a Form 1-218 is presumptively reliable and can be admitted in deportation proceedings without giving the alien the opportunity to cross-examine the document's author, at least when the alien has put forth no evidence to contradict or impeach the statements in the report." See Felzcerek v. INS, 75 F.3d 112, 117 (2d Cir.1996). Although Petitioner argues that he was not afforded an opportunity to present such evidence, he was served with the 1-213 form at his first hearing, in September 2007. At his second hearing, nearly a year later in August 2008, the IJ asked Petitioner's attorney if he had "any evidence . to even suggest that the contents of the [Form 1-213] did not relate to [Petitioner] or that the information is erroneous or that it was the result of coercion or duress?" App. 86. Petitioner's attorney responded that he did not, but explained that he had filed a Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") inquiry to discover whether Gaitan-Cortez had previously filed any applications for legal immigration status. However, when the IJ asked if he had any evidence of the inquiry, his attorney replied that he did not. Therefore, Petitioner's assertion to this Court that the IJ did not allow him an opportunity to come forward with evidence to rebut the contents of the 1-213 is without merit. The assertion that Petitioner's attorney challenged the factual accuracy of the 1-213's contents is similarly unsupported. See, e.g., Kulhawik, v. Holder, 571 F.3d 296, 298 (2d Cir.2009) (unsworn statements of an attorney are not evidence). Petitioner presented no actual evidence that he had ever filed any application for relief, or that his attorney had filed the FOIA request as he claimed. Accordingly, Gaitan-Cortez's assertion that the IJ violated his due process rights fails.
We have carefully considered Petitioner's remaining arguments and conclude that they are without merit. For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is DENIED.