Opinion ID: 1449067
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The BIA should adequately consider whether petitioner's motion is number-barred

Text: A motion to reopen is a form of procedural relief that asks the [BIA] to change its decision in light of newly discovered evidence or a change in circumstances since the hearing. Dada v. Mukasey, 128 S.Ct. at 2315 (internal quotation marks omitted). Such a motion must state the new facts that will be proven at a hearing to be held if the motion is granted, and shall be supported by affidavits or other evidentiary material. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(B). The BIA will not grant the motion unless it determines that evidence sought to be offered is material and was not available and could not have been discovered or presented at the former hearing.... 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(1). In addition, aliens seeking reopening to apply for discretionary relief must show that they have a prima facie case of eligibility for relief and either that they did not have an opportunity to apply for such relief in the former hearing or that the relief is sought on the basis of circumstances that have arisen subsequent to the hearing. Id. ; INS v. Wang, 450 U.S. 139, 141, 101 S.Ct. 1027, 67 L.Ed.2d 123 (1981) (per curiam). The 1996 amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) transform[ed] the motion to reopen from a regulatory procedure to a statutory form of relief available to the alien. Dada, 128 S.Ct. at 2316. The INA sets forth two bars to the BIA's consideration of the statutory relief we have described: the number-bar, which provides that the alien's statutory right to file a motion to reopen is limited to one such motion, 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(A), and the time-bar, 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C), which establishes a deadline for filing the motion. The regulation interpreting the INA similarly states that, with certain exceptions not applicable here, a party may file only one motion to reopen deportation or exclusion proceedings ... and that motion must be filed no later than 90 days after the date on which the final administrative decision was rendered in the proceeding sought to be reopened.... 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2). The BIA concluded that petitioners' 2007 motion was number-barred because they had previously filed a motion to reopen in 2005. Petitioners argue, however, that the 2005 motion does not bar them from filing a second motion because the BIA denied it as untimely, and never considered the motion itself. In its denial of petitioners' 2007 motion to reopen, the BIA fails adequately to address petitioners' argument. The BIA observes that there is no requirement that a time or number-barred motion be considered on the merits, but does not reach the question of whether a motion that has not been considered on the merits counts as a first petition for the purposes of the number-bar rule. The two questions are entirely different. The one addressed by the BIA is whether the agency must consider a petition that is not properly before it, the other is whether, under the number-bar rule, a petition that is not properly before the agency serves to bar petitioners from subsequently filing a petition that otherwise is. The question of whether a petition to reopen that is denied for untimeliness and thus is not considered on the merits by the BIA counts as a first petition for purposes of the number-bar rule is an open question that neither we, nor the BIA, have previously considered. Because the BIA did not adequately consider or explain its conclusion regarding this legal question, we return that issue to it for further review.