Opinion ID: 145262
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Material Support Bar

Text: Thevarajah also argues that the Board erred in denying the motion to reconsider her argument that the material support bar was inapplicable to her situation. Yet the reason the Board denied reconsideration of this issue was because it found that Thevarajah failed to argue it adequately in her initial appeal. In fact, in her appeal to the Board, Thevarajah's challenge to the immigration judge's ruling consisted only of the statement: The female respondent claims that she worked as a journalist for a newspaper which is under the control of the LTTE. Her argument is that working as a journalist does not amount to material support. (App. at 59.) But stating blankly what one's argument is and actually arguing a position are different things. Perfunctory and undeveloped arguments are waived, especially when ... `a party fails to develop the factual basis of a claim on appeal and, instead, merely draws and relies upon bare conclusions.' Campania Mgmt. Co., Inc. v. Rooks, Pitts & Poust, 290 F.3d 843, 852 n. 6 (7th Cir.2002) ( quoting Spath v. Hayes Wheels Int'l-Ind. Inc., 211 F.3d 392, 397 (7th Cir.2000)). The Board utilized this exact reasoning when it explained that it was denying Thevarajah's appeal because her argument was vague and unsupported. (App. at 42.) Now, however, Thevarajah does not challenge this denial, but instead challenges the rejection of the new argument she made in her motion to reconsider. There, Thevarajah argued that the material support bar did not apply to her because she was protected by the First Amendment and international law. And although this may very well be true, the Board found that Thevarajah's failure to articulate this argument on appeal of the immigration judge's order was fatal. We have held that the Board is not required to grant a motion for reconsideration to address issues that could have been raised earlier. Ahmed v. Ashcroft, 388 F.3d 247, 251 (7th Cir.2004). Because Thevarajah's new argument was raised for the first time in a motion for reconsideration, the Board did not abuse its discretion in declining to hear Thevarajah's material support argument. Therefore, the Board's decision to deny Thevarajah's motion for reconsideration was proper. In sum, the Board did not abuse its discretion by rejecting Petitioners' motion to reconsider. We deny the petition for review of Petitioners' reconsideration motion and we now turn to the Board's affirmance of the immigration judge's order removing Petitioners from the United States.