USCA11 Case: 20-14215 Date Filed: 08/25/2021 Page: 1 of 9 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 20-14215 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A099-677-985 MERLIN ARACELY MEJIA-GARCIA, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (August 25, 2021) Before WILSON, JILL PRYOR, and LUCK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 20-14215 Date Filed: 08/25/2021 Page: 2 of 9 Merlin Mejia-Garcia petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing an appeal from the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of a motion to sua sponte reopen her May 2007 in absentia removal order. The record shows that Mejia-Garcia filed her motion to reopen twelve years after she was ordered removed—far after the 180-day deadline set forth in INA § 240(b)(5)(C)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5)(C)(i). Mejia-Garcia has failed to raise any statutory or regulatory exceptions that would justify reopening the removal order, and we lack jurisdiction to review the BIA’s decision not to sua sponte reopen the removal order. Therefore, we deny the petition in part and dismiss the petition in part. We begin by recounting the relevant facts. Mejia-Garcia is a native and citizen of Honduras. She first entered the United States in April 2006 as a sixteen- year-old unaccompanied minor. Several weeks after her entry into the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) served Mejia-Garcia with a Notice to Appear, charging her as removable pursuant to INA § 212(a)(6)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i), for being present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. Mejia-Garcia was ordered removed in absentia in January 2007. After she timely moved to reopen the case, the January 2007 removal order was rescinded. But in May 2007, Mejia-Garcia was again ordered removed in absentia after she failed to appear for a scheduled hearing. In November 2010, 2 USCA11 Case: 20-14215 Date Filed: 08/25/2021 Page: 3 of 9 Mejia-Garcia moved to reopen the May 2007 removal order. The IJ denied the motion, finding that she failed to appear for the May 2007 hearing despite having had knowledge of its time, date, and place. In 2013, Mejia-Garcia married a legal permanent resident of the United States. Her husband later filed an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative on her behalf in July 2016. Three years later, on July 10, 2019, Mejia-Garcia and her husband attended an in-person interview for the petition. At that time, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Mejia-Garcia due to the outstanding removal order from May 2007. On the same day, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved the I-130 petition. On July 18, 2019, Mejia-Garcia filed a motion with the immigration court seeking sua sponte reopening of the May 2007 order and a stay of removal. She asserted that she failed to appear at the May 2007 hearing because she was unaware of the court date. Mejia-Garcia contended that her removal would cause extreme hardship because she was …
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