Opinion ID: 3001393
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ibarra

Text: As noted above, after the Board denied Ibarra’s request for a § 212(c) waiver, Ibarra filed a motion to reopen his case, arguing that he was eligible to adjust his status to that of lawful permanent resident given his marriage to a United States citizen. The Board denied Ibarra’s motion to reopen and Ibarra filed a notice of appeal of that decision to this court. He also filed a motion to reconsider both the Board’s denial of his request for § 212(c) relief and its denial of his motion to reopen. The Board denied Ibarra’s motion to reconsider and Ibarra appeals from that denial as well. On appeal, Ibarra argues that the Board erred in denying his motion to reopen and his subsequent motion for reconsideration. The government maintains that we lack jurisdiction to consider Ibarra’s appeal, as it relates to the denial of his motion to reopen and the denial of his motion for reconsideration.6 6 The government properly acknowledges that this court has jurisdiction over the § 212(c) waiver issue because that issue presents both a question of law and a constitutional question. Under § 106(a) of the REAL Act of 2005, circuit courts have jurisdiction to review questions of law and constitutional claims notwithstanding other jurisdictional bars. 8 U.S.C. §1251(a)(2)(C). 28 Nos. 06-3717, 06-3841, 06-3979, 07-1199 & 07-1670 We begin with the jurisdictional question. Because Ibarra’s conviction for sexual abuse of a minor constitutes an aggravated felony under the INA, this court retains only limited jurisdiction to review a final order of removal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C) (providing that no court shall have jurisdiction to review any final order of removal against an alien who is removable for having committed an aggravated felony). Specifically, this court may consider only constitutional claims and questions of law raised in proper petitions for review. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D); Hernandez-Alvarez v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 763, 765 (7th Cir. 2005). Moreover, “where Congress explicitly withdraws our jurisdiction to review a final order of deportation, our authority to review motions to reconsider or to reopen deportation proceedings is thereby likewise withdrawn.” Sarmadi v. INS, 121 F.3d 1319, 1322 (9th Cir. 1997); see also Assaad v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 471, 474 (5th Cir. 2004) (explaining that “just as our power to review a final [removal] order is circumscribed by § 1252(a)(2)’s various jurisdiction-stripping provisions, our ‘jurisdiction to entertain an attack on that order mounted through filing . . . a motion to reopen’ is equally curtailed”) (quoting Patel v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 334 F.3d 1259, 1261 (11th Cir. 2003)); Emile v. INS, 244 F.3d 183, 189 (1st Cir. 2001) (noting that “[b]ecause [defendant] was convicted of an aggravated felony, we have no authority to consider on direct review any other claim once we conclude that he was legitimately so classified”); Sousa v. INS, 226 F.3d 28, 34 (1st Cir. 2000) (holding that “having determined that [the petitioner] is removable as an aggravated felon, our authority to act in this case with respect to the removal proceeding, including incidental rulings on discretionary relief, is at an end”). Thus, we generally lack jurisdiction to consider Ibarra’s challenges to the Nos. 06-3717, 06-3841, 06-3979, 07-1199 & 07-1670 29 Board’s denial of his motions to reopen and for reconsideration. In response, Ibarra claims that this court has jurisdiction because the Board’s denials of his motion to reopen and motion for reconsideration were based on an incorrect interpretation of the law. Ibarra also argues that by denying him a hearing of his application for adjustment of status based on his wife’s visa petition, the Board violated his right to due process. A “petitioner may not create the jurisdiction that Congress chose to remove simply by cloaking an . . . argument in constitutional garb . . . .” Torres-Aguilar v. INS, 246 F.3d 1267, 1271 (9th Cir. 2001). Yet that is exactly what Ibarra seeks to do, by reformulating his arguments as presenting legal and constitutional questions. Ibarra fails to cite any case law that would support his position that the denial of his motion to reopen or for reconsideration implicates legal or constitutional principles. Rather, the decision to grant or deny a motion to reopen is a discretionary decision, even if the alien demonstrates that he is entitled to relief. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(a). In this case, the Board denied Ibarra’s motion to reopen, finding that Ibarra should have presented his request for adjustment of status much earlier. This conclusion did not involve a question of law. Nor does Ibarra present a valid constitutional claim, as the due process clause does not require the Board to reopen or reconsider cases previously decided or otherwise provide for discretionary relief. See Dave v. Ashcroft, 363 F.3d 649, 653 (7th Cir. 2004) (holding that “in immigration proceedings, a petitioner has no liberty or property interest in obtaining purely discretionary relief . . . and the denial of such relief therefore cannot implicate due process”); Garcia v. Att’y Gen. of 30 Nos. 06-3717, 06-3841, 06-3979, 07-1199 & 07-1670 U.S., 329 F.3d 1217, 1224 (11th Cir. 2003) (holding that “aliens do not enjoy a constitutionally protected liberty interest in a purely discretionary form of relief”). Accordingly, this court lacks jurisdiction to consider Ibarra’s challenges to the Board’s denial of his motion to reopen and motion for reconsideration. Id.7 Ibarra also argues that the Board’s order stripping him forever of his lawful permanent residence was “an excessive fine” in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The Board’s removal order, however, is not a “fine,” and thus 7 In addition to arguing that the Board violated his due process rights by denying his motion to reopen and for reconsideration, throughout his appellate briefs Ibarra makes general claims of due process violations. See, e.g., Ibarra Brief at 16 (“Immigration Judge Cuevas violated the Petitioner’s rights to due process in denying the request for a continuance.”); id. (“He further erred and violated the Petitioner’s right to due process . . . in denying him a waiver under Section 212(c) of the INA.”); id. (“The Board erred in concluding that the Petitioner was not eligible for a § 212(c) waiver [and] [i]n so doing, the Board also violated the Petitioner’s right to . . . due process of the law.”); id. at 17 (“Denying the Petitioner a hearing on his application for adjustment of status was a further violation of his right to due process . . . .”); id. at 20-21 (The IJ “further violated his right to due process, by allowing the government to file its 95 pages of documents the day before the May 14, 2004 hearing.”); id. at 22 (“The Board has further violated the Petitioner’s right to due process by not following its own precedent.”). But other than citing the general due process requirement that a petitioner be provided a meaningful opportunity to be heard, Ibarra does not develop these other due process arguments or cite any applicable case law. Therefore, these claims have been forfeited. See United States v. Boyle, 484 F.3d 943, 946 (7th Cir. 2007). Nos. 06-3717, 06-3841, 06-3979, 07-1199 & 07-1670 31 the Excessive Fine Clause of the Eighth Amendment does not apply. The Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause is likewise inapplicable because “deportation proceedings are not criminal and do not constitute punishment” and thus do not “constitute ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ under the Eighth Amendment.” Flores-Leon, 272 F.3d at 440. Accordingly, Ibarra’s attempt to invoke the Eighth Amendment fails.