Opinion ID: 786156
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Recharacterization of Singh's Motion

Text: 10 We have recently held that [w]here the facts surrounding allegedly ineffective representation by counsel were unavailable to the petitioner at an earlier stage of the administrative process, motions before the BIA based on claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are properly deemed motions to reopen. Iturribarria, 321 F.3d at 891. Singh's motion to reopen fits squarely within our holding in Iturribarria. In his motion, Singh represented that he had not learned that his appeal had been summarily dismissed by the BIA until he called the automated telephone system in April 2002. Only after that telephone call did Singh learn that Sekhon, his former counsel, had failed to file a timely brief in support of the appeal; that Sekhon had failed to make a motion to the BIA to consider a late-filed brief; and that Sekhon had failed to communicate any of this information to Singh. In his motion, Singh thus presented to the BIA a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel supported by factual representations that had been unavailable to [him] at an earlier stage of the administrative process. Id. Under Iturribarria, the BIA thus erred as a matter of law when it recharacterized Singh's motion to reopen as a motion for reconsideration.