NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 19a0503n.06 Case No. 18-3694 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Oct 03, 2019 LYUBOV SLYUSAR, DENYS SLYUSAR, and ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk VLADYSLAV SLYUSAR, ) ) Petitioners, ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW ) FROM THE UNITED STATES v. ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION ) APPEALS WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, ) ) Respondent. ) OPINION BEFORE: MOORE, McKEAGUE, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges. McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge. Lyubov Slyusar and her two sons petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of Slyusar’s motion to reopen immigration proceedings. We DISMISS the petition in part on jurisdictional grounds and otherwise DENY it. I. This is not Slyusar’s first appeal. Slyusar, a Ukrainian citizen and Russian native, previously sought review of the Board’s 2012 decision upholding an immigration judge’s “denial of her applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection pursuant to the Convention Against Torture.” Slyusar v. Holder, 740 F.3d 1068, 1070 (6th Cir. 2014). Slyusar contended that relief was warranted because Ukraine persecuted her for exposing government officials’ pension fraud in Shepetovka, her hometown, through a radio broadcast. See id. at 1070–72. But the Case No. 18-3694, Slyusar v. Barr immigration judge did not find Slyusar credible. Id. at 1072. Specifically, the immigration judge “found numerous inconsistencies between Slyusar’s testimony and the information she had previously given to the Department of Homeland [S]ecurity—including discrepant information regarding her employment history, her date of entry into the United States, whether or not she had a [Ukrainian] passport in her possession when she arrived in the United States, her marriages, and her attempts to file asylum claims.” Id. at 1073. We denied Slyusar’s petition for review because she failed to present evidence compelling a contrary credibility finding. See id. But we also cautioned that immigration judges, who may base a petitioner’s credibility on inconsistencies “unrelated to the claim itself,” should exercise “due care in evaluating such inconsistencies when reaching a credibility determination.” Id. at 1075. Some inconsistencies matter, while others may not. See id. In December 2017, over three years after our decision, Slyusar moved to reopen proceedings. She argued that new conditions in Ukraine stemming from a Russian invasion, a new threat conveyed to her father Anatoliy, ineffective assistance from her lawyers, and our prior decision cautioning immigration judges all justified reopening. In support, Slyusar submitted new evidence: affidavits from herself and her son, statements and pictures detailing the new threat, an expert report about changed conditions in Ukraine, a psychologist’s report finding Slyusar credible, and bar complaints Slyusar filed in November 2017 against her prior attorneys. The Board denied Slyusar’s motion to reopen. The Board explained that the motion was untimely, save Slyusar’s argument about changed conditions in Ukraine. Equitable tolling of the filing deadline was not warranted, in the Board’s view, because Slyusar failed to demonstrate due diligence in pursuing her rights. Slyusar’s allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel predated the Board’s 2012 decision, and she presented no evidence ...
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