NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 18a0532n.06 No. 18-3123 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Oct 24, 2018 VIKAS MANUBHAI PATEL, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ) Petitioner, ) ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW v. ) FROM THE UNITED STATES ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS, III, Attorney General, ) APPEALS ) Respondent. ) Before: KEITH, COOK, and LARSEN, Circuit Judges. LARSEN, Circuit Judge. Vikas Manubhai Patel, a native and citizen of India, sought to reopen his removal proceeding twelve years after an Immigration Judge (IJ) ordered him removed from the United States. Patel argued that he never received notice of his removal hearing and that changed conditions in India justified reopening the proceeding and allowing him to apply for relief from removal. The IJ denied Patel’s motion to reopen, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissed Patel’s appeal from that decision. When Patel moved the BIA to reconsider its dismissal, the BIA adhered. Patel now petitions this court for review of the BIA’s denial of his motion to reconsider. Finding that the BIA did not abuse its discretion, we DENY the petition for review. I. Patel entered the United States without proper documentation in July 2000. On August 18, 2004, agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), acting on a report from police in Dearborn, Michigan, apprehended Patel and one other alien at a Dearborn hotel. Patel claimed to No. 18-3123, Patel v. Sessions be visiting from New Jersey and said he was without a passport. The DHS agents arrested Patel and transported him to a Border Patrol station for processing. At the station, DHS agents found Patel’s passport in the belongings of an Iraqi national who was in custody on suspicion of document fraud and other crimes. Patel was then lodged at the Monroe County jail. That same day, DHS agents personally served Patel with a Notice to Appear (NTA). The NTA contains Patel’s signature and fingerprint and states that he received oral warnings in English regarding the consequences of failing to appear at his removal hearing. DHS then commenced removal proceedings against Patel by filing the NTA with the Detroit Immigration Court. This filing noted that Patel was released from custody after posting a $25,000 bond and that he reported his address as 1440 N. Dixie Hwy, Monroe, MI 48618. On October 21, 2004, the Immigration Court sent notice by regular mail to this address, informing Patel that his removal hearing was scheduled for November 5, 2004. Patel did not attend the hearing, and the IJ ordered him removed in absentia. Notice of the IJ’s November 5 decision was mailed to Patel’s only known address, but the letter was returned to the Immigration Court, marked, “Attempted Not Known,” with the handwritten notation, “No longer here. Return to sender. Moved.” Patel was then sent a certified letter with a copy of his removal order, but this was also sent back, marked, “Return to sender. Refused.” Twelve years later, in December ...
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