United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 20-3036 ___________________________ Alejandra Gallegos Petitioner v. Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General of the United States Respondent ____________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ____________ Submitted: October 22, 2021 Filed: February 22, 2022 ____________ Before ERICKSON, GRASZ, and STRAS, Circuit Judges. ____________ GRASZ, Circuit Judge. Alejandra Gallegos petitions this court to review a decision made by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“Board”) denying her motion to reopen removal proceedings and to rescind an in absentia order of removal. Finding no exceptional circumstances justifying Gallegos’s failure to appear at her removal proceedings, we conclude the Board did not abuse its discretion and deny Gallegos’s petition for review. I. Background Gallegos is a citizen of Mexico who gained Lawful Permanent Resident (“LPR”) status in the United States through her marriage to Juan Manuel Rios who is a United States citizen. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) agents began investigating Gallegos and Rios’s marriage after Gallegos petitioned to dissolve their marriage. At the conclusion of the investigation, the agents believed Gallegos’s marriage to Rios was fraudulent, and they initiated removal proceedings against Gallegos. DHS filed a Notice to Appear (“NTA”) with the immigration court on February 28, 2019, charging Gallegos as removable: (1) under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(A) as an alien who was inadmissible at the time she adjusted her LPR status because she procured admission through fraud or by willfully misrepresenting a material fact in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(C)(i); (2) under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(A) because she did not possess valid immigration documents when she sought readmission into the United States as an LPR in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I); and (3) under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(G)(ii) for failing or refusing to fulfill a marital agreement which was made for the purpose of procuring admission as an immigrant. Gallegos was provided with a copy of the NTA, which listed the date, time, and location of her hearing before the immigration court. The immigration court later mailed an amended NTA on March 31, 2019, informing Gallegos her hearing was rescheduled for October 8, 2019. Gallegos, however, failed to appear at the October 8, 2019, hearing. As a result, the immigration judge (“IJ”) ordered Gallegos removed in absentia after finding DHS submitted evidence showing removability was established as charged. -2- Gallegos moved to reopen the removal proceedings and to rescind the in absentia order of removal under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(4)(ii). Gallegos argued that exceptional circumstances prevented her from attending the removal hearing and submitted a sworn statement in support of her motion. In the statement, Gallegos admitted to receiving the amended NTA in March 2019, informing her of the new October hearing date. Gallegos explained that she misplaced the NTA while traveling and incorrectly remembered the hearing date as October 17, 2019. Gallegos attributed this misplacement to mental health issues, claiming she was treated for depression and anxiety in 2018 and was involuntarily hospitalized in …
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