Bun Cheat v. William P. Barr


NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 20a0078n.06 Case No. 19-3476 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Feb 03, 2020 BUN CCHAY CHEAT, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ) Petitioner-Appellant, ) ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW v. ) FROM THE UNITED STATES ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, ) APPEALS ) Respondent-Appellee, ) ) OPINION BEFORE: MERRITT, CLAY, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges. CLAY, Circuit Judge. Petitioner Bun Cchay Cheat, a noncitizen, appeals an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), dated May 15, 2019, denying his motion to reopen removal proceedings. Cheat sought to reopen removal proceedings because the Notice to Appear that initiated proceedings against him in November 2009 was defective because it did not include the date and time of his hearing. Cheat argues that the Supreme Court’s decision in Pereira v. Sessions, — U.S. —, 138 S. Ct. 2105 (2018), prevents the BIA from curing its defective Notice to Appear with a subsequent Notice of Hearing. However, in Garcia-Romo v. Barr, 940 F.3d 192 (6th Cir. 2019), we held precisely the opposite. Because this Court has already rejected the narrow legal ground that Cheat claims justifies reversing the BIA’s order, a point acknowledged by Cheat in his reply brief, we DENY Cheat’s petition for review. Case No. 19-3476, Cheat v. Barr I. BACKGROUND Petitioner Bun Cchay Cheat is a native and citizen of Cambodia. On August 21, 2001, he entered the United States on a C1 visa as a nonimmigrant in transit. He was permitted to remain in the United States until September 28, 2002. He failed to leave by that time. However, it was not until November 2009, that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) to Cheat, thereby initiating removal proceedings against him. The NTA asserted that Cheat had sought to obtain permanent resident status via fraud or material misrepresentation. Importantly, the NTA did not specify a date or time for a removal hearing. This was rectified on November 13, 2009, when the Immigration Court sent Cheat a Notice of Hearing, directing him to appear on April 21, 2010. On that date, the Immigration Court sent Cheat another notice, this one informing him that he must appear on June 23, 2010 for a hearing. In response, Cheat denied that he was subject to removability based upon the grounds alleged in the NTA. On April 26, 2010, DHS amended the NTA to withdraw the fraud charge and add a charge that Cheat was subject to removal because he had remained in the United States longer than permitted by his visa. At the June 23 hearing, Cheat, through counsel, conceded that he was subject to removal. The Immigration Judge presiding over the hearing issued a removal order. Cheat did not appeal this order. Cheat filed his first motion to reopen with the Immigration Court on January 16, 2014. He alleged that changed country conditions in Cambodia made Cheat eligible for asylum and withholding of removal. ...

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