NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUL 20 2023 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT PABLO EDWIN PIRIR-CHITAY, No. 21-898 Petitioner, Agency No. A071-583-933 v. MEMORANDUM* MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted July 10, 2023** Pasadena, California Before: SANCHEZ and MENDOZA, Circuit Judges, and DONATO,*** District Judge. Petitioner Pablo Edwin Pirir-Chitay, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) * 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). *** The Honorable James Donato, United States District Judge for the Northern District of California, sitting by designation. denying a motion to sua sponte reopen his removal proceedings.1 We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a) to review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen. Perez-Camacho v. Garland, 54 F.4th 597, 603 (9th Cir. 2022). But “we have no jurisdiction to review the BIA’s sua sponte authority,” Lona v. Barr, 958 F.3d 1225, 1232 (9th Cir. 2020), except “for the limited purpose of reviewing the reasoning behind the decision[] for legal or constitutional error,” Bonilla v. Lynch, 840 F.3d 575, 588 (9th Cir. 2016). We review due process claims de novo. Mukulumbutu v. Barr, 977 F.3d 924, 925 (9th Cir. 2020). The BIA did not err in concluding that Pirir-Chitay was ineligible to seek cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(a). The BIA applied a precedential decision in Matter of Hernandez-Romero, 28 I. & N. Dec. 374, 378 (B.I.A. 2021) to find that 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(c)(6) barred Pirir-Chitay from seeking cancellation of removal because he had previously been granted a special rule cancellation of removal under section 203 of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA).2 Pirir-Chitay’s argument that 1 The BIA denied the motion to reopen as untimely and number-barred under 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7) and 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c). Pirir-Chitay did not challenge that decision in his opening brief. Consequently, this claim is waived. See Rizk v. Holder, 629 F.3d 1083, 1091 n.3 (9th Cir. 2011), overruled in part on other grounds by Alam v. Garland, 11 F.4th 1133, 1135 (9th Cir. 2021) (en banc). 2 Pub. L. No. 105-100, 111 Stat. 2196 (1997), amended by Pub. L. 105-139, 111 Stat. 2644 (1997). 2 Hernandez-Romero was wrongly decided is foreclosed by our decision in Hernandez v. Garland, 38 F.4th 785, 792 (9th Cir. 2022) (finding special rule cancellation under NACARA § 203 is cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b, and so request for second cancellation is barred by 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(c)(6)).3 Pirir-Chitay also argues that the BIA’s reliance on Hernandez-Romero was a due process violation because that decision was issued while his motion to reopen was pending …
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