Opinion ID: 203633
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Rashad's Asylum Application

Text: An application for asylum must be filed within one year of the alien's arrival in the United States, absent changed circumstances affecting eligibility for asylum or extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing. 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158(a)(2)(B); 1158(a)(2)(D). Here, it is undisputed that Rashad resided in the United States for more than three years before filing his asylum application. Accordingly, both the IJ and the BIA determined that Rashad's petition was untimely. Furthermore, the IJ and the BIA concluded that there were no changed or extraordinary circumstances that might have justified his untimely application. Unless the alien identifies a legal or constitutional defect in the decision, this Court lacks jurisdiction to review the BIA's determination that a petition for asylum was untimely or that there were no changed or extraordinary circumstances that might have justified considering the application. Hana v. Gonzales, 503 F.3d 39, 42 (1st Cir.2007) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D)). Both the IJ and the BIA have determined that there are no extraordinary circumstances justifying Rashad's untimely application for asylum. Therefore, we lack jurisdiction to review the rejection of Rashad's asylum application on this ground. Nonetheless, Rashad claims that Congress violated his right to due process by precluding our review of determinations made by the Attorney General in connection with the one (1) year filing rules or request for exceptions. This Court, nonetheless, has previously held that this jurisdictional bar does not represent a due process violation. Hana, 503 F.3d at 44 (holding that the judicial review bar of 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(3) does not represent a due process violation). Rashad further argues that the agency violated his due process rights because it failed to provide him with a fair and efficient procedure for determining the validity of his persecution claim and failed to fully evaluate his exceptions to the one (1) year statute of limitation for filing asylum petitions. However, Rashad's argument is meritless as it is not a colorable constitutional claim. [4] See Lutaaya v. Mukasey, 535 F.3d 63, 69 (1st Cir.2008) (holding that petitioner's argument that the IJ violated her due process rights because the IJ did not consider her testimony and failed to allow her to fully explain her reasons to meet the one year deadline was not a colorable constitutional claim that would allow this court to exercise judicial review over the untimely asylum application); Jamal v. Mukasey, 531 F.3d 60, 65 (1st Cir.2008) (rejecting as frivolous petitioner's argument that the failure of the IJ to make an individualized analysis to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to qualify him for an exception from the one (1) year asylum ban was a violation of due process). Rashad's allegation that the IJ and the BIA failed to fully evaluate his qualification for the exception to the one (1) year filing deadline is another way of saying that the agency got the facts wrong, which is simply a factual claim masqueraded as a legal challenge that certainly cannot defeat the operation of the jurisdiction-stripping provision. See Pan, 489 F.3d at 85. Hence, this Court lacks jurisdiction to review Rashad's asylum petition.