UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 20-2255 GERSON YOEL RODAS-CARIAS, Petitioner, v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Submitted: July 29, 2021 Decided: September 9, 2021 Before NIEMEYER, DIAZ, and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges. Petition granted; vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion. Njinuwo C. Bayelle, Silver Spring, Maryland, for Petitioner. Brian M. Boynton, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Anthony C. Payne, Assistant Director, Lance L. Jolley, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Gerson Yoel Rodas-Carias petitions for review of the order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“Board”), dismissing his appeal from the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his motion to reopen and rescind the in absentia removal order. We grant the petition for review and remand to the Board for further proceedings. Rodas-Carias admitted being a citizen of Honduras after he was arrested near the Rio Grande River in Texas by a Border Patrol Agent. He was not in possession of any documents that would allow him to remain in the United States. Rodas-Carias was 17 years old when he entered the United States. On October 31, 2018, Rodas-Carias was served with a notice to appear by mail from the immigration office in Baltimore, Maryland. The notice charged Rodas-Carias with removability because he was a native and citizen of Honduras who had entered the United States without a valid entry document. Rodas-Carias was notified that any notice of hearing will be mailed to his last known address. He was further notified that failure to appear at a hearing could result in the entry of an order of removal. On February 28, 2019, the immigration court in Baltimore, Maryland, mailed a notice of hearing instructing Rodas-Carias to appear in court on November 14, 2019, for his master calendar hearing. On November 14, 2019, the immigration court issued an in absentia order of removal indicating that Rodas-Carias did not appear and the Government established that Rodas-Carias was removable as charged. On December 31, 2019, Rodas- Carias, through counsel, moved to reopen the proceedings and rescind the in absentia order of removal. Rodas-Carias requested reopening for the purpose of applying for Special 2 Immigration Juvenile Status (SIJS). 1 The motion indicated that Rodas-Carias lived with his grandmother at the address where the notice of hearing was mailed. The motion further acknowledged that Rodas-Carias failed to appear at the November 14, 2019, hearing. In a sworn statement, Rodas-Carias acknowledged living with his grandmother since his arrival, but that he did not receive notice of the November 14, 2019, hearing. Rodas-Carias submitted an order to show cause from the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, dated October 22, 2019. The order indicated that Rodas-Carias was petitioning for appointment of a guardian. The court set the next hearing for February 20, 2020. (Administrative Record (“A.R.”) at 75). …
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