Opinion ID: 764472
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Mejia's Renewed Habeas Petition

Text: 25 On November 21, 1997, Mejia filed a renewed petition for habeas corpus under the same civil action number in the district court. In his new petition, Mejia reiterated the claims that he asserted in his initial petition and again asserted § 2241 as the sole basis for the court's jurisdiction. 26 On March 12 1998, the district court dismissed Mejia's renewed petition and denied his request for a stay of deportation. The district court found that under 8 C.F.R. § 3.23, a motion for reconsideration of an administrative order of removal, deportation, or exclusion must be filed within thirty days of the order or before July 31, 1996, whichever is later, and a motion to reopen deportation proceedings must be filed within ninety days of the final order or before July 31, 1996, whichever is later. The district court further noted that Mejia did not file his motion to reopen until September 26, 1997, and that because the motion was not timely filed, the immigration judge refused to consider his motion. 27 The district court reasoned that essentially Mejia's habeas corpus petition invited the court to force the immigration judge to consider an untimely motion to reopen that the judge had refused to consider. The district court concluded that it must decline that invitation. 28 On March 12, 1998, Mejia filed a Notice of Appeal of the district court's decision and, on March 13, 1998, this Court temporarily stayed Mejia's deportation pending appeal.