Opinion ID: 51571
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Motion to Reopen Proceedings

Text: On March 20, 2006, Nates filed a motion asking the BIA to reopen proceedings based on changed country conditions. Nates argued that newly available evidence established that Colombia’s conditions had worsened, that the FARC would likely persecute him based on his status as a military target, and that the FARC continued to make death threats against him. In support of this motion, Nates submitted: (1) a signed declaration, dated January 17, 2006, from Nates’s sister and mother stating that FARC members continued to make threatening calls; (2) a signed declaration, dated January 17, 2006, from a friend of Nates stating that Nates’s family moved into his house in late 2000 after receiving several death threats in their old apartment; and (3) five news articles detailing the FARC’s destruction of oil wells and violent attacks on police officers and army soldiers. These articles also reported that the number of FARC members had declined to 12,000 in 2005 due to the government’s military offensive launched in 2002. The BIA found that this motion was untimely because it was not filed within ninety days of the final administrative order dismissing his appeal. The BIA also determined that no exception to the timely filing requirement applied because the 6 proffered evidence was not new or previously unavailable and the evidence did not indicate a material change in country conditions since the asylum hearing date. Accordingly, the BIA denied the motion to reopen the proceedings. Nates timely filed a petition for review.