Case: 22-21, 04/19/2023, DktEntry: 33.1, Page 1 of 5 NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS APR 19 2023 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT JOSE LUIS LOPEZ-GUEVARA, No. 22-21 Petitioner, Agency No. A022-317-477 v. MEMORANDUM* MERRICK GARLAND, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted April 17, 2023 ** Pasadena, California Before: WARDLAW and H.A. THOMAS, Circuit Judges, and ROSENTHAL,*** District Judge. Jose Luis Lopez-Guevara, a native and citizen of El Salvador, seeks review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) order denying his untimely motion to * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). *** The Honorable Lee H. Rosenthal, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, sitting by designation. Case: 22-21, 04/19/2023, DktEntry: 33.1, Page 2 of 5 reopen his removal proceedings. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. Bonilla v. Lynch, 840 F.3d 575, 581 (9th Cir. 2016). “We review the Board’s denial of a motion to reopen for abuse of discretion, but review purely legal questions de novo.” Id. The BIA abuses its discretion when its decision is arbitrary, irrational, or contrary to law. Martinez-Hernandez v. Holder, 778 F.3d 1086, 1088 (9th Cir. 2015). Finding no abuse of discretion or legal error, we deny the petition for review. Lopez-Guevara first entered the United States in 1970. He departed the United States on August 29, 1978, only to reenter the next day. In September 1981, Lopez-Guevara was convicted in the Superior Court of California of second-degree murder. He remained in prison until February 2019, when he was released on parole. Shortly after his release, the Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings against Lopez-Guevara. Around the same time, Lopez-Guevara filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). An Immigration Judge denied Lopez-Guevara’s application on April 7, 2020. The order specified that Lopez-Guevara had until May 7, 2020, to appeal. Lopez-Guevara filed a notice of appeal on April 17, 2020, while in immigration custody. On April 24, 2020, the BIA rejected the notice of appeal on the basis that Lopez-Guevara had failed to either pay the filing fee or submit a fee- waiver request. The rejection letter stated that Lopez-Guevara could correct the error 2 Case: 22-21, 04/19/2023, DktEntry: 33.1, Page 3 of 5 and resubmit the appeal but noted, in all caps, that “THIS DOES NOT EXTEND THE ORIGINAL STRICT 30-DAY TIME LIMIT within which you must file your appeal.” On May 5, 2020, two days before the deadline to appeal expired, Lopez- Guevara resubmitted his appeal, attaching a fee-waiver request form. On May 7, 2020 (the deadline to appeal), the BIA again rejected the appeal because Lopez- Guevara had submitted an incorrect fee-waiver form. …
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