Opinion ID: 796234
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Alrefae's Motion to Reopen Removal Proceedings

Text: 22 To succeed on a motion to reopen removal proceedings before the IJ, an alien must satisfy two requirements. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(3). First, the alien must demonstrate prima facie eligibility for the relief he or she would seek if removal proceedings were reopened. See INS v. Abudu, 485 U.S. 94, 104, 108 S.Ct. 904, 99 L.Ed.2d 90 (1988) (holding that a motion to reopen may be denied if the movant has not established a prima facie case for the underlying substantive relief sought). Second, the alien must offer, to the satisfaction of the IJ, evidence ... [that] is material and was not available and could not have been discovered or presented at the former hearing. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(3). Even if these requirements are met, however, the decision whether to grant a motion to reopen is within the IJ's discretion. Id. We consider these requirements in turn. 11
23 To be entitled to reopening, Alrefae was required to make a prima facie showing that if his removal proceedings were reopened, he would be eligible for a waiver of the joint filing requirement and thereby entitled to remove the conditions on his residency status. The IJ appears to have concluded that Alrefae failed to establish prima facie eligibility. Yet other than stating that a prima facie showing is required and noting that a movant bears a heavy burden to establish eligibility for reopening, the IJ provided no explanation of his conclusion. Although the IJ's failure to provide any analysis of Alrefae's claim would itself require remand, we note that the government has not provided us with any argument as to why Alrefae is incorrect that he would have been able to apply for a waiver of the joint filing requirement if proceedings were reopened. 12 24 Because Alrefae failed to submit either a joint petition or an application for a waiver within the ninety-day window, he had to establish that he would be entitled to request a waiver outside this window in order to succeed on his motion to reopen. The BIA appears to allow late filing of waiver applications, at least in some circumstances. In Stowers, a decision Alrefae cited in his motion to reopen, the INS terminated an alien's conditional permanent resident status before the ninety-day joint filing window after learning that he and his wife were no longer residing together. 22 I. & N. Dec. at 606. The INS argued that it could not adjudicate the alien's application for a waiver of the joint filing requirement because the application was submitted outside the ninety-day window. Id. at 611. The BIA rejected the INS's position. It noted that because a waiver application is filed as an alternative to the joint petition, it is normally filed within the 90-day period preceding the end of the 2-year conditional residence period, but held that in certain situations it is appropriate to file a waiver application before or after the 90-day petitioning period, even where the [INS] affirmatively has terminated an alien's conditional resident status. Id. The BIA explained that [t]o conclude otherwise would prevent an alien whose marriage is terminated within 21 months of gaining conditional resident status from ever having the conditions of the status lifted, even where the marriage was entered into in good faith or where extreme hardship would result. Id. at 613. It also concluded that the IJ should have continued Stowers's removal proceedings until the INS could adjudicate the waiver application. Id. at 612. The BIA did not distinguish the certain situations in which late filing would be permissible from those in which it would not. 25 Alrefae also submitted with his motion to reopen a document that purports to be a memorandum to regional officials from the acting associate director for operations at BCIS. 13 This memorandum addresses the situation of aliens involved in ongoing divorce proceedings during the ninety-day window for filing joint petitions. It states that such persons are ineligible to file for good-faith marriage waivers because their marriages have not yet been terminated, and explains that [i]f an alien's conditional resident status is terminated because he or she could not timely file a Form I-751, and he or she is placed in removal proceedings, then he or she may request a continuance from the immigration judge to allow for the finalization of the divorce or annulment proceedings. This memorandum would not necessarily require BCIS officials to allow a late waiver application in a case, like Alrefae's, in which an alien had not initiated divorce proceedings prior to or during the ninety-day window, and had not sought a continuance of removal proceedings pending the outcome of the divorce proceedings. Nonetheless, the IJ erred by failing to address in any way Alrefae's argument regarding Stowers and this BCIS memorandum, or otherwise to explain why Alrefae was not prima facie eligible for the relief he sought. Cf. Poradisova v. Gonzales, 420 F.3d 70, 77 (2d Cir.2005) (Despite our generally deferential review of IJ and BIA opinions, we require a certain minimum level of analysis from the IJ and BIA opinions denying asylum, and indeed must require such if judicial review is to be meaningful.... We also require some indication that the IJ considered material evidence supporting a petitioner's claim.). 26 Moreover, unlike the regulation providing the requirements for joint filing, which requires filing within the ninety-day window, 8 C.F.R. § 216.4, the regulation governing waiver applications contains no express time limit, 8 C.F.R. § 216.5. We urge the BIA on remand to clarify whether the time limits for filing joint petitions ever apply to the filing of waiver applications, given the absence from the implementing regulation of any time limit for filing waiver applications.
27 The IJ also concluded that Alrefae had failed to provide material, previously unavailable evidence in support of his motion to reopen. Alrefae's divorce did not become final until after the in absentia removal order was entered, and he included a copy of the divorce judgment with his motion to reopen. To determine whether a motion to reopen was supported by previously unavailable evidence, we must inquire whether the evidence could have been presented at the hearing before the IJ. Norani v. Gonzales, 451 F.3d 292, 294 (2d Cir.2006) (per curiam). Alrefae filed for divorce on December 14, 2002. He was ordered removed in absentia on March 28, 2003. He received a divorce judgement on May 20, 2003, and he filed his motion to reopen on June 18, 2003, attaching his divorce papers to the motion. Because Alrefae's divorce only became final two months after the scheduled date of his removal hearing, he could not have presented evidence of the divorce at this hearing in support of his application for a good-faith marriage waiver, which, as discussed above, appears to be available only to aliens whose divorces are final. The IJ did not explain why, under these circumstances, evidence of the divorce was not previously unavailable. 14