Case: 17-60728 Document: 00514900361 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/03/2019 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 17-60728 FILED April 3, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce MARIA ELIDA GONZALEZ-DIAZ, Clerk Petitioner v. WILLIAM P. BARR, U. S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent Petition for Review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A097 904 325 Before STEWART, Chief Judge, SOUTHWICK and ENGELHARDT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Maria Gonzalez-Diaz was ordered removed in absentia in November 2004. In 2017, she filed a motion to reopen her removal proceedings because she had not received notice of the 2004 removal hearing. The immigration judge found she had received notice and denied the motion. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed. We DENY the petition for review. * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 17-60728 Document: 00514900361 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/03/2019 No. 17-60728 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Gonzalez-Diaz is a native and citizen of El Salvador who unlawfully entered the United States in December 2003. She was arrested by local law enforcement in Texas for failure to have identification and later released to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CBP issued her a notice to appear (NTA) on October 4, 2004, charging her as removable for being “an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled” and ordering her to appear before an immigration judge (IJ) in Dallas at a date and time “to be set.” Gonzalez-Diaz was then released with instructions to report to an immigration officer each month. She never did. About two and half weeks after her release, the immigration court sent Gonzalez-Diaz a notice of hearing (NOH) to the address listed on her NTA. The NOH instructed Gonzalez-Diaz to appear before an IJ on November 16, 2004. The NOH also indicated the time and address at which Gonzalez-Diaz needed to present herself. When Gonzalez-Diaz did not appear at the hearing, the IJ ordered her removed in absentia. Over twelve years later, in January 2017, Gonzalez-Diaz once more encountered immigration authorities. Gonzalez-Diaz asserts it was only then she realized there was an outstanding removal order against her. She obtained counsel who in May 2017 filed a motion with the immigration court to reopen proceedings. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(b)(5)(C)(ii). Her argument was that she lacked notice of the November 2004 hearing because she did not receive the NOH. The IJ disagreed and denied the motion. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA or Board) affirmed. Gonzalez-Diaz now petitions this court for review. 2 Case: 17-60728 Document: 00514900361 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/03/2019 No. 17-60728 DISCUSSION “In reviewing the denial of a motion to reopen removal proceedings, we review the BIA’s order and will evaluate the immigration judge’s underlying decision only if it influenced the BIA’s opinion.” Hernandez-Castillo v. Sessions, 875 ...
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