RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b) File Name: 21a0011p.06 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT E. A. C. A., ┐ Petitioner, │ │ > No. 20-3216 v. │ │ │ JEFFREY A. ROSEN, Acting Attorney General, │ Respondent. │ ┘ On Petition for Review from the Board of Immigration Appeals; No. A 209 885 750. Argued: December 2, 2020 Decided and Filed: January 12, 2021 Before: MOORE, GILMAN, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges. _________________ COUNSEL ARGUED: Rachel Naggar, CATHOLIC LEGAL IMMIGRATION NETWORK, INC., Silver Spring, Maryland, for Petitioner. Joanna L. Watson, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. ON BRIEF: Rachel Naggar, CATHOLIC LEGAL IMMIGRATION NETWORK, INC., Silver Spring, Maryland, for Petitioner. Joanna L. Watson, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. _________________ OPINION _________________ KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. E.A. C.A. (“E.A.”) petitions this court for review of the order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying her motion to reopen an in absentia removal order. Because the BIA abused its discretion in concluding that E.A. had No. 20-3216 E. A. C. A. v. Rosen Page 2 not established that exceptional circumstances justified her failure to appear, we GRANT the petition for review, VACATE the removal order, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. I. BACKGROUND E.A. is a native and citizen of El Salvador. Administrative Record (“A.R.”) at 212 (Notice to Appear). In November 2016, when E.A. was twelve years old, she unlawfully entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor. Id. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (“ORR”) released E.A. to her mother, who resided in New York. Id. at 153 (Verification of Release). E.A. failed to appear at a June 6, 2018 hearing and was ordered removed in absentia. A.R. at 174 (Removal Order). A. E.A.’s Removal Proceedings On March 3, 2017, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) mailed a Notice to Appear to E.A. A.R. at 213 (2017 Notice to Appear). Shortly after ORR released E.A. to her mother, her family relocated to Arkansas to help take care of her aunt’s children. Id. at 144 (Aff. of E.A.), 148–49 (Aff. of Yessenia Carolina Anaya Ortiz). In Arkansas, Catholic Charities assisted E.A. in preparing a Motion to Change Venue from Executive Office of Immigration Review (“EOIR”) New York City to EOIR Memphis, Tennessee and her Change of Address Form, both of which she filed pro se. Id. at 149 (Aff. of Anaya Ortiz), 203–06 (Mot. to Change Venue), 207–08 (Change of Address Form). On May 15, 2017, the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) granted E.A.’s Motion to Change Venue. Id. at 202 (Order Granting Changing Venue). Latino Memphis’s Remote Access Initiative, which represents unaccompanied minors who live more than 100 miles from the Memphis EOIR, agreed to represent E.A. pro bono in her immigration proceedings. Id. at 190 (Mot. to Change Docket). On October 30, 2017, DHS sent E.A. a “Notice of Hearing in Removal Proceedings” at the Memphis EOIR for January 3, 2018. Id. at ...
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