Opinion ID: 779992
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reliance on the OSC's Statements

Text: 24 We review the denial of a motion to reopen under an abuse of discretion standard. Singh v. INS, 213 F.3d 1050, 1052 (9th Cir.2000). We therefore will only overturn the BIA's ruling if it acted arbitrarily, irrationally, or contrary to law. Id. (quotations omitted). We find that the INS acted arbitrarily and in violation of the due process notice requirements by refusing to reopen deportation proceedings in Mr. Dobrota's case, because its notice efforts were not reasonably calculated to reach Mr. Dobrota. 25 The OSC, which Mr. Dobrota did receive because it was mailed to his attorney, advises him in two places of the importance of notifying the INS of any change of address. However, the most significant and prominently placed of these warnings contains an apparently mixed message: Any notices will be mailed only to the last address provided by you. If you are represented, notice will be sent to your representative. These two sentences, read in sequence, suggest to a reasonable reader two possibilities: either notice will be sent not only to the last address left by the respondent but also to his or her representative; or, notice will be sent to his or her representative in lieu of sending notice to the alien's personal address. A person in Mr. Dobrota's situation could understand the OSC in one of these two ways, particularly because the OSC actually had been sent to Mr. Dobrota's representative and that was how Mr. Dobrota learned of its issuance. It was therefore reasonable for Mr. Dobrota to understand that subsequent notices would also be sent to Mr. Alcorn. 26 The reasonableness of this impression is further reinforced by the statement on the third page of the OSC that notice [of the hearing] will be mailed to the address provided by the respondent. It could be reasonably assumed that, since Mr. Alcorn's address had been an address provided by Mr. Dobrota, had been used by the INS for the purposes of sending out the OSC, and had been the only address at which Mr. Dobrota actually received the OSC, the INS was treating Mr. Alcorn's address as the address provided by the respondent to which future communications regarding the hearing would be sent. 27 Language in the statute and in the INS' own regulations support this understanding. Section 242B(a)(2), which specifies the requirements for notices of hearing, states that such notice shall be given in person to the alien (or, if personal service is not practicable, written notice shall be given by certified mail to the alien or to the alien's counsel of record, if any), in the order to show cause or otherwise  (emphasis added). The alien's counsel of record for purposes of the OSC was Mr. Alcorn, the attorney who was representing Mr. Dobrota in his asylum proceedings before the INS. As the notice of hearing could be contained in the OSC (though it need not be), a fair inference is that the attorney to whom the notice of hearing would be sent is the same attorney, based on the same appearance formalities, to whom the OSC was sent. 28 The INS contends that our reading of the OSC and attendant laws would conflict with INS regulations, which provide that an attorney representing an alien in proceedings before the OIJ must file a distinct appearance, even if that attorney has already appeared as the alien's representative before the INS. See 8 C.F.R. § 3.17(a) (1995). Since the OIJ (and not the INS) is the entity responsible for sending out notices of hearing, see 8 C.F.R. § 3.18 (1995), the OIJ would, on the INS' theory, not be obligated to mail notice to the alien's attorney unless that attorney had filed a separate appearance before it. 29 Neither 8 C.F.R. § 3.17 nor Form EOIR-27, however, provide any guidance as to the proper timing for filing an appearance before the OIJ. Section 242B(a) would suggest that the time for filing Form EOIR-27 is not before the notice of hearing, as the notice of hearing may be included in the OSC and no separate appearance could be entered before the OSC. As it is at least odd for the term counsel of record to refer to one concept if the notice of hearing is contained in the OSC and a different one if it is not, some warning as to the required timing (such as that contained on some EOIR forms, see note 4, infra ) was necessary to provide fair notice of the INS' understanding of the timing requirement. 30 Moreover, the INS' arguments fail to account for the reasonable reliance of both Mr. Dobrota and Mr. Alcorn on the INS' representations in the OSC. The OSC was sent to Mr. Alcorn's office, indicating that the INS recognized his address as one at which Mr. Dobrota could be contacted. The OSC contained no warning that if Mr. Alcorn failed to file a separate appearance with the OIJ, his would no longer be he address provided by the respondent, to whom notice of the hearing would be sent. The upshot is that Mr. Alcorn was not on clear notice that he needed to file a new appearance in order to receive notice on Mr. Dobrota's behalf of the Notice of Hearing. 4 31 The INS argues that Mr. Dobrota acted at his peril by disregarding the OSC's warnings that he should not change residences without notifying the INS of his new address. In actuality, the OSC, like the statute, says that the notice must be of an address and telephone number (if any) where you can be contacted. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252b(a)(1)(F) (1995) (the alien must provide a written record of an address and telephone number at which the alien may be contacted ) (emphasis added). Since the OSC specifically says that an attorney of record will be notified, a reasonable reading of the OSC is that an alien satisfies the (a)(1)(F) requirement that he provide a contact address by providing the address of an attorney through whom he may be contacted. That reading conforms with our law making clear that a valid address provided for notice purposes need not be that of the alien's own residence. See Arrieta, 117 F.3d at 432 (alien's mailing address for INS notice purposes may validly remain unchanged even if she moves); Garcia, 222 F.3d at 1209 (notice sufficient where served only upon petitioners' attorney). The ultimate irony in this somewhat Orwellian case is, of course, that the INS did contact Mr. Dobrota through his lawyer when it came time actually to deport him, by sending Mr. Dobrota's bag and baggage letter to Mr. Alcorn's office. 32 Although the INS undeniably has a significant interest in enforcing rules surrounding its proceedings, mechanical adherence to these rules cannot take precedence over Mr. Dobrota's reasonable reliance on the INS's statements in the OSC. See Shamsi v. INS, 998 F.2d 761, 763 (9th Cir.1993) (alien could not be penalized when she reasonably complied with misleading INS regulations and notice of appeal form instructions, resulting in an untimely appeal). Respondents in immigration cases — like most laypersons — are frequently unfamiliar with the intricacies of the immigration bureaucracy. If an alien is informed that if he is represented, that notice will be sent to [his] representative, and is not informed in that document (as he is later, in the notice of appeal form) that his attorney of record up until that point will not be considered his attorney of record before the OIJ, he is entitled to assume that the attorney who previously appeared for him will receive notice of all relevant hearings in his case. Accordingly, Mr. Dobrota's case must be reopened, so that he — and his counsel — may be properly given notice of a hearing before the IJ and may take advantage of the opportunity for a full and fair hearing guaranteed him by due process.