Court Opinion

ID: 9627372
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:42:48.640356+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:45.273585
License: Public Domain

BLOCK, Senior District Judge,
concurring in the result:
I agree that the BIA’s failure to address the affidavits of non-receipt requires remand. I write separately, however, to express my disagreement with my colleagues’ conclusion that the BIA should be allowed to determine, in the first instance, the legal effect of the affidavits. In my view, we owe it to the parties to provide clearer guidance, if for no other reason than to foreclose another petition for review should the BIA mistakenly determine that the affidavits, if authentic, do not overcome the presumption of mailing. Cf, e.g., Yepes-Prado v. INS, 10 F.3d 1363, 1372 (9th Cir.1993) (“To avoid a repetition of [the BIA’s] errors on remand, we will address them at this point.”).
I would hold that, absent any concerns about their authenticity, the affidavits were sufficient to rebut the presumption of mailing that arose by virtue of the BIA’s correctly addressed cover letter. See Nunley v. City of Los Angeles, 52 F.3d 792, 796 (9th Cir.1995) (“Courts have formulated the presumption [of mailing] so as to hold it rebutted upon a specific factual denial of receipt.”). I would, therefore, remand and require the BIA (1) to address whether there is any reason to doubt the affidavits’ authenticity, and if not, (2) to determine, without the benefit of any presumption, whether its decision was properly mailed. See id. (“Under the so-called ‘bursting bubble’ approach to presump*1174tions, a presumption disappears where rebuttal evidence is presented.”).