Opinion ID: 3034855
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The only thing if you can give me a last chance.

Text: I am not asking much, a month to two months so I can bring everything so I can present it for this case. 15408 BARROSO v. GONZALES Q. I can’t do that. The reason you have gotten so many long continuances is because my calendar right now is out to September 2002. I can give you a hearing earlier than that only on an emer- gency basis. And the only emergency basis in this Court is asylum cases or cases where peo- ple are about to lose eligibility for relief which is not your situation. So I am not going to give you a continuance. You will have your case today. You can testify and you can call your wife as a witness if you want. At that point, Barroso was immediately sworn in to testify and forced to proceed without an attorney or any knowledge of the immigration laws. Because Barroso’s new attorney had assured him that he would be able to obtain a continuance, Barroso did not have any of his supporting documentation or witnesses, other than his wife, with him that day. Barroso testified that he first came to the United States in 1985. In 1988, he was convicted of drunk driving. He was arrested when he attempted to enter the United States illegally in 1989, served forty-five days in jail, and was deported to Mexico.6 He returned illegally in 1990. Barroso married Juana Gomez (“Gomez”), a permanent resident of the United States, in 1998. Gomez was awaiting her citizenship papers at the time of the January 24, 2001 hearing, so she had not filed a motion on his behalf for adjustment of status, on the advice of “notarial” Cabrera. Barroso’s three children were born by a former spouse, now deceased, in the United States. During the hearing it became clear that Barroso had believed the notarial, Cabrera, to be his lawyer. The IJ responded to the fact that Barroso had been defrauded by Cabrera in the following way: 6 The record does not contain any documentary evidence about this deportation. BARROSO v. GONZALES 15409 The people you have chosen to deal with have no legal obligations. If they cheat you, that is just too bad. There is nothing you can do about it. And you would have been much wiser to listen to your attor- neys instead of listen to notarials. And you may pay the price for that. The IJ denied Barroso’s application for cancellation of removal. He recited the four criteria for eligibility for cancellation of removal: (1) continuous physical presence for ten years preceding the alien’s application; (2) good moral character; (3) no convictions for certain criminal offenses; and (4) exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to the alien’s spouse, parent, or child, who is a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. As to the first criterion, the judge stated that Barroso “probably” had ten years total in the country, however his 1990 deportation might disrupt a finding of ten years continuous presence. The IJ found that Barroso met both the second and third eligibility criteria. As to the fourth criterion, the IJ held that Barroso’s case was not sufficiently exceptional and extremely unusual to merit a finding of hardship. The IJ also stated in his oral decision that Barroso had “been cheated and . . . lied to” and had been subjected to “exceptionally inadequate legal counsel.” However, the IJ found that Barroso’s reliance on Cabrera’s legal counsel had been unreasonable. The IJ stated that “[t]he strategy adopted by Mr. Cabrera is obviously to wait until right before the hearing after as many continuances as possible and then switch attorneys at the last minute to get another continuance.” The IJ granted Barroso voluntary departure. Barroso appealed the IJ’s decision to the BIA on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. On February 20, 2003, the BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision on the ground that Barroso had not complied with the conditions set forth in Matter of Lozada, 19 I. & N. Dec. 637 (1988), for establishing ineffective assis15410 BARROSO v. GONZALES tance of counsel. The BIA granted Barroso a thirty-day period for voluntary departure. On March 24, 2003, Barroso filed a motion to reconsider with the BIA in which he asserted two claims: first, ineffective assistance of counsel, and second, that he was denied his statutory right to counsel of his choice when the IJ insisted on conducting the hearing without obtaining a valid waiver of his statutory right to such counsel.7 On June 10, 2003, the BIA denied his motion on two grounds. First, the BIA concluded that pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1229c(d) (§ 240B(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act),8 Barroso’s failure to depart the United States within his thirtyday voluntary departure period barred him from applying for cancellation of removal and made him statutorily ineligible for the relief sought. Second, the BIA found that the record did not support a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel and that Barroso had not shown that he was prejudiced by the actions of a former representative. Inexplicably, the BIA did not address Barroso’s claim that he was denied his right to counsel of his choice. Barroso timely filed a petition for review with this court. II. JURISDICTION AND STANDARD OF REVIEW We have jurisdiction to review the BIA’s June 10, 2003 denial of Barroso’s motion to reconsider pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 7 8 U.S.C. § 1362 provides, In any removal proceedings before an immigration judge and in any appeal proceedings before the Attorney General from any such removal proceedings, the person concerned shall have the privilege of being represented (at no expense to the Government) by such counsel, authorized to practice in such proceedings, as he shall choose. 8 The statute provides that, “If an alien is permitted to depart voluntarily under this section and fails voluntarily to depart the United States within the time period specified, the alien shall . . . be ineligible for a period of 10 years for any further relief under . . . section[ ] § 1229b . . . of this title.” 8 U.S.C. § 1229c(d). BARROSO v. GONZALES 15411 § 1252(a). We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reconsider for abuse of discretion. See Oh v. Gonzales, 406 F.3d 611, 612 (9th Cir. 2005). III. ANALYSIS A. Failure to Depart Within the Voluntary Departure Period [1] The BIA’s denial of Barroso’s motion to reconsider on the ground that he failed to depart the United States within his voluntary departure period reflects the “significant conundrum” produced by the interaction of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”)’s voluntary departure and motion to reconsider provisions. Kanivets v. Gonzales, 424 F.3d 330, 334 (3rd Cir. 2005). On the one hand, the statute provides that an alien who is permitted to depart voluntarily and fails to do so within the specified time period is ineligible for ten years for cancellation of removal. 8 U.S.C. § 1229c(d); see also 8 C.F.R. § 1240.26(a) (2005). On the other hand, the statute provides aliens the right to file one motion to reconsider within thirty days of the entry of an order of removal, 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(6)(B);9 see also 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(b)(2) (2005),10 and the BIA ordinarily takes a significant period of 9 At the time Barroso filed his motion, the provisions governing motions to reconsider were found at 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(5). Congress recently amended § 1229a(c), see Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, Division B - REAL ID Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-13, § 101(d), 119 Stat. 231, and as a result, the provision governing Barroso’s motion presently is located at 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(6). The REAL ID Act did not change the substance of the former § 1229a(c)(5) and for ease of reference, we refer to the current provision throughout the opinion. 10 At the time Barroso filed his motion, regulatory provisions governing motions to reopen and to reconsider were codified at 8 C.F.R. § 3.2. A reorganization in 2003 placed the provisions in their current location at 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2 (2005). There are no differences between the former section 3.2 and the current section 1003.2 that affect Barroso’s appeal, and, for ease of reference, we cite to the current regulations throughout the opinion. 15412 BARROSO v. GONZALES time to decide the motion. Moreover, the BIA regulations state that if an alien leaves the country within the period allowed for voluntary departure, he forfeits any pending motion to reopen or reconsider. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(d) (2005).11 As a result, an alien who does not leave the United States within his voluntary departure period is not eligible for adjustment of status, but an alien who does leave the country within his voluntary departure period forfeits any pending motion to reconsider or reopen which the BIA has not yet decided. As a result, “[e]ither way, stay or go, under the BIA’s interpretation, [aliens are] precluded from obtaining a ruling on the merits of their properly filed, timely motion to [reconsider].” Azarte v. Ashcroft, 394 F.3d 1278, 1282 (9th Cir. 2005). The BIA’s interpretation thus “serves to deprive aliens who are afforded voluntary departure of their statutory right to a determination on the merits of motions to reopen [or reconsider].”12 Id. 11 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(d) provides, in pertinent part, Any departure from the United States, including the deportation or removal of a person who is the subject of exclusion, deportation, or removal proceedings, occurring after the filing of a motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider, shall constitute a withdrawal of such motion. 12 At the risk of stating the obvious, we note that Azarte’s reasoning applies equally well to a motion to reconsider (the motion filed by Barroso) as it does to a motion to reopen (the motion filed by the Azartes). Just as IIRIRA created a statutory right to file one motion to reopen, so too did it create a statutory right to file one motion to reconsider. Compare 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(A) (“An alien may file one motion to reopen proceedings under this section.”), with 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(6)(A) (“The alien may file one motion to reconsider a decision . . . .”). Moreover, the motion to reconsider provision interacts with the voluntary departure provision in precisely the same way as did the motion to reopen provision in Azarte. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(d) (if an alien departs within his voluntary departure period, he forfeits any “motion to reopen or [ ] motion to reconsider”) (emphasis added). Thus, there is no meaningful distinction between IIRIRA’s motion to reconsider and motion to reopen provisions with regard to the voluntary departure provision. BARROSO v. GONZALES 15413 [2] This court recently addressed the “Catch 22” created by the BIA’s interpretation of the voluntary departure and motion to reopen/reconsider provisions. In Azarte, we observed that it would be “absurd” to believe that Congress, in providing a statutory right to file motions to reopen and reconsider, would intend to preclude the adjudication of those motions by invocation of the voluntary departure limitation. Id. at 1288-89. As a result, we held that a timely filed motion for reopening, in conjunction with a request for stay of removal or voluntary departure, tolls the voluntary departure period for the time during which the BIA considers the motion. Id. at 1289.13 The BIA’s order in Barroso’s case pre-dated our decision in Azarte. Because the BIA’s ruling squarely presents the same dilemma addressed in Azarte, we ordered the parties to submit supplemental briefs on the impact of Azarte on Barroso’s case. In its supplemental brief, the government claims that Azarte does not apply to this case for two reasons: one, Barroso failed to file his motion to reconsider within the voluntary departure period as Azarte requires, and two, Barroso failed to request a separate stay of his removal or his voluntary departure period when he filed his motion to reconsider. We address each contention in turn.
In Azarte, we stated that “[o]ur ability to toll the voluntary departure period is predicated on the fact that the Azartes filed their motion to reopen before their period for voluntary depar13 In so holding, we overruled our prior analysis in Shaar v. INS, 141 F.3d 953 (9th Cir. 1998). See Azarte, 394 F.3d at 1286 (holding that “because the rationales that underlay Shaar are no longer applicable after IIRIRA, Shaar does not control our decision in this case.”). The Third and Eighth Circuits have since followed Azarte and rejected the Shaar approach. See Kanivets, 424 F.3d at 335 (holding that “tolling applies during the period of time that the BIA deliberates on a timely motion to reopen.”); Sidikhouya v. Gonzales, 407 F.3d 950, 952 (8th Cir. 2005) (same). 15414 BARROSO v. GONZALES ture elapsed.” 394 F.3d at 1288 n.20. Where an alien files his motion after his voluntary departure period has expired, the law in this circuit is clear that the BIA may properly deny the motion on that basis. See De Martinez v. Ashcroft, 374 F.3d 759, 763 (9th Cir. 2004) (holding that BIA did not err in denying relief where alien moved to reopen her proceedings in the BIA thirty days after the expiration of her voluntary departure period); see also Zazueta-Carrillo v. Ashcroft, 322 F.3d 1166, 1174 (9th Cir. 2003) (same, where alien moved to reopen forty-four days after expiration of his voluntary departure period). [3] A motion to reconsider must be filed within thirty days of the date of entry of a final administrative order of removal. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(6)(B). In its February 20, 2003 decision, the BIA granted Barroso a thirty-day voluntary departure period. Therefore, the deadlines for filing Barroso’s motion to reconsider and the expiration of Barroso’s voluntary departure period fell on the same date: Saturday, March 22, 2003. When the thirty-day deadline for filing a motion to reconsider expires on a Saturday, the motion is due on the next business day, which in this case was Monday, March 24, 2003. See In re Lopez, 1998 BIA LEXIS 10, at  n.1 (1998); see also 8 C.F.R. § 1003.38(b) (“If the final date for filing [an appeal to the BIA] falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, this appeal time shall be extended to the next business day.”). Therefore, under the BIA’s regulations, Barroso’s motion to reconsider was timely if it was filed on Monday, March 24th. The government stated in its opening brief that Barroso’s motion was received on March 24th.14 The government also 14 In its brief, the government erroneously claimed that Barroso’s motion to reconsider “arguably” should have been treated as a motion to reopen because March 24th was “over thirty days” after the Board’s decision. However, as we have explained, the motion to reconsider was not due until March 24th and thus was timely filed. In addition, although Barroso’s motion claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, it does not fit within BARROSO v. GONZALES 15415 conceded at oral argument that Barroso’s motion was filed within the voluntary departure period. However, the government alleges for the first time in its supplemental brief that the motion was not filed within the voluntary departure period because the BIA’s filing receipt for the motion was dated April 2, 2003. As a general matter, an issue is “deemed waived if it is raised for the first time in a supplemental brief.” Devereaux v. Abbey, 263 F.3d 1070, 1079 (9th Cir. 2001) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Here, the government, to the detriment of the petitioner, sought in a supplemental brief to change the facts on the basis of which an issue had been briefed and argued, without offering any explanation for its earlier representation to the court. Whether we treat its change in position as constituting a new claim or simply an attempt to withdraw the factual basis for its argument and substitute a contrary set of facts, we conclude that we will not consider it when raised for the first time in a supplemental brief. However, even if we were to consider the government’s newly stated version of the facts, we would reject its argument. Our review of the record shows that the motion was in fact filed on March 24th. The record demonstrates that it was stamped by the BIA clerk’s office two times: one stamp dated March 24, 2003, the other stamp dated April 2, 2003.15 The this court’s holding in Iturribarria v. INS, because Barroso had already claimed ineffective assistance of counsel in his appeal and his motion was not supported by “new evidence that was purportedly not discoverable at an earlier stage.” 321 F.3d 889, 897 (9th Cir. 2003); see also 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(B) (“The motion to reopen shall state the new facts that will be proven at a hearing to be held if the motion is granted . . . .”). Therefore, we conclude that the BIA properly treated the motion as a motion to reconsider. 15 The BIA Practice Manual, the BIA’s official guidance on filing procedures and requirements, states that the date stamp is controlling in the computation of whether a filing is timely. BIA Prac. Man., Ch. 3.1(b) (2004). 15416 BARROSO v. GONZALES record reveals that the BIA first received the motion on March 24th, but sent a notice to Barroso’s counsel on March 25th informing him that the motion listed the incorrect alien registration number. On March 28th, Barroso’s counsel sent a letter correcting the registration number, and that letter was stamped as received on April 2, 2003. Thus, our review of the record shows that Barroso’s motion was first filed on March 24th. [4] Moreover, if Barroso’s motion to reconsider had not been filed within the thirty day deadline, the BIA would have dismissed it as untimely. See BIA Prac. Man., Ch. 3.1(c)(iii) (“If a motion is untimely, the motion is denied.”) (citing 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(b)(2)). Here, the BIA did not do so. Accordingly, we conclude that Barroso’s motion to reconsider was timely filed within the 30-day period required by 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(6)(B). Not only was his motion timely filed on March 24th, but we also conclude that by filing on March 24th, it was filed within Barroso’s voluntary departure period. As we noted above, the government conceded at oral argument that the motion was filed within the voluntary departure period and therefore waived any claim that it was not so filed.16 However, in the interest of thoroughness, we briefly explain why March 24th is both the proper deadline date for filing Barroso’s motion to reconsider and the expiration date of his voluntary departure period. While, as we have already noted, the BIA’s regulations address how to calculate the due date for a motion to reconsider when the date falls on a weekend day, the only relevant Departments of Justice and Homeland Security regulations governing voluntary departure periods, 8 C.F.R. § 240.25 and 16 We note that the government contended in its initial brief that March 24th was “several days after the thirty-day period allotted for voluntary departure.” BARROSO v. GONZALES 15417 8 C.F.R. § 1240.26 respectively, do not offer any guidance as to how to treat weekend days when they are the last calendar day of the voluntary departure period. Nor does the relevant statutory provision provide any guidance on the calculation of the period: the time limit on periods of voluntary departure contained in 8 U.S.C. § 1229c(b)(2) does not refer to a start or end date, but merely prescribes that “permission” to depart voluntarily “shall not be valid for a period exceeding 60 days.” In Salvador-Calleros v. Ashcroft, this court was presented with the same question of how to calculate the expiration of the voluntary departure period when the last calendar day falls on a weekend day. 389 F.3d 959 (9th Cir. 2004). The petitioner in Salvador-Calleros filed both her petition for review with this court and her motion for stay of voluntary departure on Monday, June 17, 2002, and the thirty-day deadline for both filings technically fell on Saturday, June 15, 2002. Id. at 964. While the government conceded that her petition for review was timely filed, it argued that the motion to stay voluntary departure was untimely because it was filed on the 32nd day. This court held that because “Congress has [not] specified a method of counting days in a statute governing [this] particular procedure,” it should apply 26(a)(3) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure when computing the expiration of voluntary departure periods such that the period “actually expire[s] the following Monday.”17 Id. at 964-65. In so holding, the court observed the need to avoid “unnecessary confusion” where “there are two separate but related thirtyday periods that relate back to the same order and start running on the same exact date.” Id. at 965. [5] Here too, we are faced with “two separate but related 17 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26(a)(3) provides that when counting days in order to compute a period’s expiration date, the court should “[i]nclude the last day of the period unless it is a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday . . . .” 15418 BARROSO v. GONZALES thirty-day periods that . . . start running on the same exact date”: the thirty-day period for filing a motion to reconsider and Barroso’s thirty-day period for voluntary departure. The BIA regulations directly speak to the computation of the former, but are silent as to the latter. We conclude that where the deadline for filing a motion to reconsider falls on the same day as the expiration of the voluntary departure period, the proper solution is to apply the same rule to both thirty-day periods.18 Such an approach not only avoids “unnecessary confusion” but also effectuates the purpose of both the voluntary departure and motion to reconsider statutory provisions and provides a “workable procedure for motions to [reconsider] in cases in which aliens are granted voluntary departure.” Azarte, 394 F.3d at 1289. Therefore, we conclude that by filing his motion to reconsider on March 24th, Barroso’s motion was filed within the voluntary departure period.19
[6] The government also argues that Azarte is inapplicable here because Barroso failed to request a stay of his removal or voluntary departure. In Azarte, we noted that we did not need to “reach the question whether filing a motion to reopen automatically tolls the voluntary departure period” because the petitioners in that case had requested a stay of removal. 394 F.3d at 1288, n.20. However, the Azarte court observed that automatically tolling the voluntary departure period upon the filing of a motion to reopen “would be consistent with the legislative scheme.” Id. For the reasons explained below, we 18 In so holding, we are not extending the voluntary departure time period in contravention of INS regulations; “we are simply determining which date should be counted as the thirtieth day.” Salvador-Calleros, 389 F.3d at 965. 19 We express no view as to the computation of the end-date of the voluntary departure period when there is no motion to reopen or reconsider filed. We do observe, however, that it would be reasonable to apply a uniform rule in calculating the end-date of the voluntary departure period, regardless of whether a motion to reopen or reconsider has been filed. BARROSO v. GONZALES 15419 now take the next step which Azarte’s rationale demands and hold that the timely filing of a motion to reopen or reconsider automatically tolls the voluntary departure period. Such a conclusion best effectuates Congress’ purpose in enacting the voluntary departure and motion to reopen/reconsider provisions, and follows “the longstanding principle of construing any lingering ambiguities in deportation statutes in favor of the alien.” INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 320, 121 S.Ct. 2271, 150 L.Ed.2d 347 (2001) (quoting INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 449, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987)). First and foremost, as Azarte explained, automatic tolling is “consistent with the legislative scheme.” 394 F.3d at 1288 n.20. Indeed, in issuing the latest interim rule concerning “the effect of a motion or appeal to the Immigration Court, BIA, or a federal court on any period of voluntary departure already granted,” the Department of Justice stated: the Department considered several options, but has not adopted any position or modified the interim rule. The Department has identified three possible options: no tolling of any period of voluntary departure; tolling the voluntary departure period for any period that an appeal or motion is pending; or set- ting a brief, fixed period of voluntary departure (for example, 10 days) after any appeal or motion is resolved. Inspection and Expedited Removal of Aliens; Detention and Removal of Aliens; Conduct of Removal Proceedings; Asylum Procedures, 62 Fed. Reg. 10312, 10325-26 (March 6, 1997) (interim rule) (emphasis added). As the interim rule makes clear, the Justice Department considers automatic tolling to be a logical resolution to the question of the interrelationship between the statute’s motion to reopen/reconsider and voluntary departure provisions. In fact, two of the three approaches being considered by the agency contemplate that the alien always be allowed to remain in the country until after the 15420 BARROSO v. GONZALES motion to reconsider/reopen is decided. As the interim rule has never been replaced by a final one, it remains our best guidance on this question.20 [7] In addition, we note that IIRIRA contains no requirement that an alien must file an affirmative request to stay voluntary departure. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229c, § 1229a; Desta v. Ashcroft, 365 F.3d 741, 749 (9th Cir. 2004) (noting that IIRIRA made no “provision for requiring an affirmative request to stay voluntary departure.”).21 Nor do the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security regulations on voluntary departure contain any provisions regarding staying the voluntary departure period. See 8 C.F.R. § 1240.26, § 240.25. Although the BIA’s regulations limit the authority to “extend the time within which to depart voluntarily specified initially by an immigration judge or the Board”, § 1240.26(f),22 automatic tolling does not extend the amount 20 See Azarte, 394 F.3d at 1289 n.21 (“When promulgating the interim rule, the Justice Department explicitly stated that its rule did not resolve how motions to reopen and voluntary departure periods should be construed together . . . [and] avoided making a regulatory decision until the adoption of a final rule.”). 21 We note that the statute does instruct that “service of a petition [for review with the court of appeals] does not stay the removal of an alien pending the court’s decision on the petition, unless the court orders otherwise.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(3)(B). However, this provision is inapposite here because it addresses petitions for review filed with the court of appeals, not motions for reconsideration filed with the BIA. Moreover, unlike 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(d) which provides that an alien forfeits any pending motion to reconsider if he departs, a court of appeals “may entertain a petition after the alien has departed.” Zazueta-Carrillo v. Ashcroft, 322 F.3d 1166, 1171 (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(3)(B)) (emphasis added). Accordingly, petitions for review to the court of appeals do not present the same “conundrum” with which we are presented here. Moreover, this circuit has held that it has the equitable power to stay the voluntary departure period while reviewing a removal order. See El Himri v. Ashcroft, 344 F.3d 1261, 1262 (9th Cir. 2003). 22 8 C.F.R. § 1240.26(f) provides, in part: “Authority to extend the time within which to depart voluntarily specified initially by an immigration BARROSO v. GONZALES 15421 of time granted for voluntary departure. See BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (8th ed. 2004) (defining “toll” as “to stop the running of” a time period and an “extension” as “[a] period of additional time to take an action”). “A suspension of a voluntary departure period merely tolls the running of that period; it does not extend it.” Bocova v. Gonzales, 412 F.3d 257, 269 (1st Cir. 2005); see also Desta, 365 F.3d at 747 (“[W]hile we are stopping the clock from running on the time petitioner has to depart voluntarily, we are not adding more time to that clock.”). Therefore, tolling the voluntary departure period while the BIA considers the merits of a motion to reopen or reconsider neither violates the statutory time limit in 8 U.S.C. § 1229c(b)(2), nor intrudes on the district director’s authority to extend the time limit as specified in 8 C.F.R. § 1240.26(f). Although the government failed to mention it either in its briefs or at oral argument, and thus does not rely on it on this appeal, we note that there is one Department of Justice regulation which might be argued to preclude automatic tolling of the time for voluntary departure and to require the filing of a separate stay motion. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(f) (2005) provides that “the filing of a motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider shall not stay the execution of any decision made in the case. . . . unless a stay of execution is specifically granted by the Board, the Immigration Judge, or an authorized officer of the Service.”23 We conclude that the regulation is not applicable and that tolling the time for voluntary departure does not constitute “stay[ing] the execution of a[ ] decision made in the case” within the meaning of section 1003.2(f). judge or the Board is only within the jurisdiction of the district director, the Deputy Executive Associate Commissioner for Detention and Removal, or the Director of the Office of Juvenile Affairs.” See also Desta, 365 F.3d at 747 (noting that extending the period for voluntary departure would be “in contravention of INS regulations.”). 23 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(f) contains an exception for motions filed pursuant to the provisions of §§ 1003.23(b)(4)(ii) and 1003.23(b)(4)(iii)(A), neither of which is applicable here. 15422 BARROSO v. GONZALES The “execution of a decision” is best understood in terms of a deportation order; in fact, 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(f) is headed “Stay of deportation.” When the government puts an alien on a plane or a bus in order to send him back to his native country, it is “executing” the deportation decision. However, when an alien who has been given permission by the BIA to depart voluntarily does so, he is not “executing” the voluntary departure order. Indeed, it is only the government that “executes” a decision in an immigration proceeding, not an individual alien.24 Therefore, tolling the time in which an alien has been granted permission to depart does not “stay the execution of a[ ] decision made in [his] case.” 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(f) (emphasis added). As a result, we conclude that the regulation does not apply to a grant of voluntary departure. Moreover, were the BIA to construe 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(f) as applying to a grant of voluntary departure, such an interpretation would not, in light of Azarte, be “based on a permissible construction of the statute.” Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 843, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). We reject agency interpretations of the INA that “would produce absurd results.” Ma v. Ashcroft, 361 F.3d 553, 558 (9th Cir. 2004) (citing United States v. Wilson, 503 U.S. 329, 334, 112 S.Ct. 1351, 117 L.Ed.2d 593 (1992)). More specifically, “when interpreting IIRIRA, we avoid an interpretation that would lead to an absurd result, such as the expenditure of unnecessary judicial resources or overly severe consequences toward aliens.” Desta, 365 F.3d at 746. 24 The only Ninth Circuit case of which we are aware to address this regulation (albeit in its earlier but identical incarnation as 8 C.F.R. 3.2(f)) held that it applies to the BIA’s decision to rescind an alien’s status as a lawful permanent resident. See Baria v. Reno, 180 F.3d 1111, 1113 (9th Cir. 1999). Like a deportation order, and unlike a grant of voluntary departure, a rescission order is a decision which must be executed by the government. Thus, the Baria court’s holding is entirely consistent with our reasoning here. BARROSO v. GONZALES 15423 Our decision in Azarte illustrates why applying § 1003.2(f) so as to require the filing of a separate stay motion would “create[ ] absurd results when viewed in light of the larger statutory scheme.” Bona v. Gonzales, 425 F.3d 663, 670 (9th Cir. 2005). Were we to require the filing of an additional motion along with a motion to reopen or reconsider, then under Azarte, the BIA would be obligated to grant every such motion in order to afford aliens “their statutory right to a determination on the merits of motions to reopen.” Azarte, 394 F.3d at 1282. Because Azarte requires that the BIA decide a motion to reopen or reconsider on the merits when the motion is filed within the voluntary departure period, the BIA would not be permitted to deny the request for a stay in these circumstances. See id. at 1289. As a result, requiring aliens to file a separate stay motion along with their timely filed motion to reopen or reconsider would amount to nothing more than an empty procedural requirement that would simply place an additional bureaucratic burden on aliens who in any event often have difficulty following the complex procedural requirements of our immigration laws. At the same time, it would generate unnecessary paperwork for all parties involved, including the overworked and undermanned bureaucracy that is currently struggling to keep up with the rapidly increasing number of filings of motions, notices, stays, orders, decisions, appeals and other types of papers. [8] In sum, to deny those aliens who, for whatever reason, fail to file a separate stay motion, the opportunity to receive a ruling on the merits of their timely filed motion to reopen or reconsider, while granting relief to those aliens whose counsel are sufficiently sophisticated to enclose the additional document, would be contrary to the statutory purpose and to our reasoning in Azarte. Automatic tolling ensures “a workable procedure for motions to reopen [or reconsider] in cases in which aliens are granted voluntary departure, and [ ] effectuate[s] the purposes of the two statutory provisions.” Id. We therefore conclude that the timely filing of Barroso’s motion 15424 BARROSO v. GONZALES to reconsider automatically tolled his time in which to voluntarily depart. We note finally that our decision is required by Azarte, because in that case, while a request for a stay was filed, the request had not been acted upon. If a voluntary departure date could be tolled only by action of an immigration official, officer or entity, as a ruling that the regulation is applicable here would require, the date would not have been tolled in Azarte; as a result, we would have been compelled to deny rather than grant the petition for review. Thus, in addition to being compelled for the reasons set forth above, the result we reach here is required in order to maintain consistency in our circuit law. [9] Accordingly, we hold that the BIA abused its discretion in denying Barroso’s motion to reconsider on the ground that he failed to depart the United States within his thirty-day voluntary departure period.25