Court Opinion

ID: 9686703
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 16:01:17.435284+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:21.579796
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION                           FILED
                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                       AUG 24 2023
                                                                      MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
                                                                       U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

BADR OUKADDOU,                                  No. 22-839
                                                Agency No.
             Petitioner,                        A209-145-923
 v.
                                                MEMORANDUM*
MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney
General,

             Respondent.

                     On Petition for Review of an Order of the
                         Board of Immigration Appeals

                           Submitted August 22, 2023**
                            San Francisco, California

Before: BUMATAY, KOH, and DESAI, Circuit Judges.

      Badr Oukaddou, a native and citizen of Morocco, petitions for review of a

Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision affirming the Immigration Judge’s

order dismissing his motion to reopen. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252,

      *
             This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
      **
             The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
and we deny the petition.

      The BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Oukaddou’s motion to reopen

as untimely because Oukaddou has not established that equitable tolling of the filing

deadline was warranted. Equitable tolling of filing deadlines may be obtained

“during periods when a petitioner is prevented from filing because of deception,

fraud, or error, as long as the petitioner acts with due diligence in discovering the

deception, fraud, or error.” Iturribarria v. INS, 321 F.3d 889, 897 (9th Cir. 2003). In

other words, it was Oukaddou’s burden to show a “diligent pursuit of [his] rights”

or “extraordinary circumstance[s] [that] stood in [his] way and prevented timely

filing” of the motion to reopen. Lona v. Barr, 958 F.3d 1225, 1232 (9th Cir. 2020).

Because Oukaddou has not demonstrated that his mental illness caused the

significant delay in filing his motion to reopen, the BIA did not act “arbitrarily,

irrationally, or contrary to law” in denying the motion. See id. (BIA’s denial of

equitable tolling appropriate when petitioner “alleged no facts . . . suggesting a

diligent pursuit of her rights in the intervening years”).

      PETITION DENIED. Petitioner’s Motion to Stay (Dkt. 2) and Supplemental

Motion to Stay (Dkt. 18) are DENIED.

                                          2                                   22-839