Case: 17-13688 Date Filed: 06/20/2018 Page: 1 of 6 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 17-13688 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A034-346-402 GARY THOMAS GUEVARA, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (June 20, 2018) Before MARTIN, JORDAN, and JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 17-13688 Date Filed: 06/20/2018 Page: 2 of 6 Gary Guevara, a native and citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order affirming the Immigration Judge’s denial of his motion to reopen. Mr. Guevara argues that his motion to reopen should have been granted because he did not have notice of his hearing date and because his failure to appear was his prior counsel’s fault. After careful review, we determine that we lack jurisdiction over his appeal and, accordingly, dismiss the petition. I Mr. Guevara was born in Trinidad and Tobago and admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident on November 23, 1973. Over a span of about 20 years, he was convicted of three offenses: grand larceny (August 24, 1979), negotiating a worthless instrument (January 31, 1996), and theft of property (May 13, 1998). In 2010, Mr. Guevara left the United States for a brief trip to Trinidad and attempted to reenter on April 6, 2010. On July 6, 2010, the Department of Homeland Security issued him a Notice to Appear before an immigration judge and charged him with inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) because he had been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude. See also Immigration and Nationality Act § 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). Mr. Guevara’s counsel initially filed a motion to terminate proceedings on his behalf on July 18, 2012, arguing that his civil and political rights were restored 2 Case: 17-13688 Date Filed: 06/20/2018 Page: 3 of 6 because the Governor of Alabama granted him a pardon. On August 14, 2012, the IJ denied his motion to terminate proceedings, finding he had not been granted a full and unconditional pardon. Mr. Guevara then conceded his removability and filed an untimely application for waiver of inadmissibility on August 29, 2013. On August 5, 2015, Mr. Guevara’s counsel was issued a Notice of Change in Hearing Location indicating the individual hearing date was scheduled for April 4, 2016. Mr. Guevara and his counsel failed to appear at the scheduled hearing, so the IJ ordered him removed in absentia. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5)(A) (providing that, after an alien or counsel receives written notice, he shall be ordered removed in absentia if he does not appear at his removal proceeding). Mr. Guevara filed a motion to reopen proceedings on October 3, 2016. He asserted that he believed the hearing was scheduled for October 14, 2016. But, he acknowledged in his motion, that his “[c]ounsel received notice that the hearing date would be changed to April 4, 2016 on June 28, 2014.” See Motion ...
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