NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 18a0479n.06 Case No. 18-3152 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Sep 24, 2018 ALDO JIMENEZ-CASTRO, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ) Petitioner, ) ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW v. ) FROM THE UNITED STATES ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS, III, Attorney ) APPEALS General, ) ) Respondent. ) OPINION BEFORE: SUTTON, McKEAGUE, and THAPAR, Circuit Judges. McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge. In December 2016, Aldo Jimenez-Castro, a citizen of Guatemala, entered the United States without permission. After failing to appear for a hearing before an immigration judge several months later, he was ordered removed in absentia. Despite Jimenez-Castro’s contention that he missed his hearing due to exceptional circumstances, the immigration judge declined to reopen the proceedings. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed the immigration judge’s decision. Jimenez-Castro now appeals. Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm. I When Jimenez-Castro arrived in the United States, he was thirteen years old and unaccompanied by an adult. He was placed in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement Case No. 18-3152, Jimenez-Castro v. Sessions (ORR). Several days later, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) served Jimenez-Castro with a Notice to Appear in immigration court at a date and time to be determined in the future. The Notice charged Jimenez-Castro with removability based on his entry and presence in the United States without admission or parole. After Jimenez-Castro turned fourteen, ORR released him into the care of his older brother, Guadalupe. And in June 2017, while he was fourteen years old and in his brother’s care, Jimenez- Castro received another Notice to Appear. This one directed him to appear in immigration court on June 27, 2017. But June 27 came, and Jimenez-Castro did not appear. Still, the hearing went on without him. At its conclusion, the immigration judge determined that Jimenez-Castro was removable and ordered him removed in absentia. On August 1, 2017, Jimenez-Castro moved to set aside the order of removal and reopen his proceedings. He argued that he missed his hearing because his brother and guardian, Guadalupe, “forgot the date” of the hearing and thus failed to ensure Jimenez-Castro’s appearance. The brothers submitted affidavits in support of the motion. They explained that they both read the Notice to Appear, that Jimenez-Castro called DHS to verify that his hearing was on June 27, and that Jimenez-Castro then told Guadalupe that his hearing was on June 27. Unfortunately for Jimenez-Castro, he also told Guadalupe that June 27 was a Wednesday, even though it was really a Tuesday. And, as Guadalupe explains, after his brother mentioned Wednesday, “that [day] was what stuck in [his] mind.” He made plans to take off work on Wednesday to take his brother to the hearing that day. It was only later on Tuesday—when Guadalupe was watching the news and “saw that it said June 27, 2017” on the television screen—that Guadalupe realized their mistake. The brothers did not immediately call a lawyer or follow up with ...
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