NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ______________ No. 17-1977 ______________ JOSÉ LUIS REINOSO-SELDA, aka José Rudiaris Lajara, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent _______________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the United States Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency Case No. A073-485-561) Immigration Judge: Hon. Annie S. Garcy ______________ Argued on March 12, 2019 Before: McKEE, PORTER, and ROTH, Circuit Judges. (Opinion filed: April 11, 2019) Mark D. Herman [Argued] Covington & Burling LLP 850 10th Street, N.W. One City Center Washington, DC 20001 Gregg H. Levy Covington & Burling LLP 850 10th Street, N.W. One City Center Washington, DC 20001 Pro Bono Counsel for Petitioner Sara J. Bayram [Argued] United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation P.O. Box 878 Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Respondent ________________ OPINION ∗ ________________ PORTER, Circuit Judge. José Luis Reinoso-Selda, aka José Rudiaris Lajara (“Reinoso”), asks us to remand his case to the Board of Immigration Appeals to reopen sua sponte his 1996 deportation hearings. The Government responds that we lack jurisdiction to review the Board’s decision declining to exercise its authority to reopen sua sponte. The Government is correct, so we must dismiss Reinoso’s petition. I Reinoso is a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic. He was admitted as a lawful permanent resident (“LPR”) under his Lajara alias in 1994. In 1995, he was convicted of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school ∗ This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. 2 and of the manufacture, distribution, and dispensing of heroin. Based on his alien status and these aggravated drug offenses, the Government charged Reinoso with being removable. A deportation hearing was held before an immigration judge (“original IJ”), on October 23, 1996. During that hearing, Reinoso admitted that he had entered the United States without inspection in 1989 and that he had been convicted of both aggravated drug offenses in 1995. The original IJ entered a deportation order, which Reinoso accepted as final. Reinoso never appealed that order and was removed from the country. Reinoso reentered the United States illegally in 1998. He was apprehended by ICE officials in 2013 and charged with being removable as an alien who was inadmissible at the time of his entry due to his previous deportation. In 2014, he filed an untimely motion asking a new immigration judge (“current IJ”), to reopen his 1996 deportation proceedings, ostensibly so he could apply for a waiver under former section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101, et seq. (“INA”). Treating his untimely motion as a request to reopen sua sponte, the current IJ noted that Reinoso would not have been eligible for relief under former section 212(c) and so had failed to meet his heavy burden of showing exceptional circumstances warranting sua sponte reopening of ...
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