Hector Palos-Ponce v. Merrick B. Garland


NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604 Submitted October 24, 2022 * Decided November 2, 2022 Before DAVID F. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge AMY J. ST. EVE, Circuit Judge THOMAS L. KIRSCH II, Circuit Judge No. 22-1354 HECTOR PALOS-PONCE, Petition for Review of an Order of the Petitioner, Board of Immigration Appeals. v. No. A200-557-916 MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General of the United States, Respondent. ORDER Hector Palos-Ponce, a Mexican citizen, received a Notice to Appear in removal proceedings for being present in the United States without authorization. More than seven years later—and after Palos-Ponce had appeared at several hearings before an Immigration Judge and conceded his removability—he moved to terminate proceedings * We previously granted petitioner’s motion to waive oral argument because the briefs and record adequately present the facts and legal arguments, and oral argument would not significantly aid the court. FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2)(C). No. 22-1354 Page 2 for lack of jurisdiction because his Notice to Appear failed to specify the time and date of his initial hearing. The Immigration Judge denied the motion and the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed. We now deny Palos-Ponce’s petition for review. Palos-Ponce entered the United States without authorization in 2005. In January 2011, the Department of Homeland Security issued Palos-Ponce a Notice to Appear charging him with removability for being present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). The Notice to Appear provided the location of Palos-Ponce’s initial hearing but failed to specify the time or date as required under 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a)(1)(G)(i). Instead, it ordered Palos-Ponce to appear before an Immigration Judge “on a date to be set” and “at a time to be set.” In an August 2011 letter, the Immigration Court notified Palos-Ponce that his hearing had been scheduled for 9 am on October 30, 2012. Palos-Ponce, proceeding pro se, appeared for that hearing and subsequent hearings in 2013 and 2017. At the 2013 hearing, Palos-Ponce admitted the allegations against him and conceded the charge of removability. He did not object to the lack of time and date in the Notice to Appear at any of the three hearings. Palos- Ponce retained counsel in early 2018 and appeared before the Immigration Court again in March 2018; he did not object to the Notice to Appear at that hearing either. The Immigration Judge set Palos-Ponce’s next hearing for August 28, 2018. The day of that hearing—and over seven years after receiving his initial Notice to Appear—Palos-Ponce filed a motion to terminate his removal proceedings for lack of jurisdiction. The Immigration Judge denied the motion but granted Palos-Ponce a 60-day voluntary departure period, conditioned upon the posting of a bond. The Board affirmed the Immigration Judge’s ruling regarding termination and refused to reinstate Palos- Ponce’s voluntary departure period because he failed to submit timely proof that he had paid the required bond. …

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