United States Fourth Circuit

Sierra Leone native's petition for review of BIA decision denying her motion to reopen as untimely and declining to exercise its power to reopen sua sponte is denied in part and dismissed in part where: 1) petitioner filed her petition more than eleven years after entry of the order granting her voluntary departure, and thus the BIA did not abuse its discretion in finding the motion to reopen untimely; and 2) the circuit court lacks jurisdiction to review the BIA's refusal to reopen a case sua sponte since there are no meaningful standards by which to evaluate the BIA's decision not to exercise its power to reopen under 8 C.F.R. section 1003.2(a).

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/12/2009
• Published 01/12/2009

Judges

• Before WILLIAMS, Chief Judge, MICHAEL, Circuit Judge, and JOHN T. COPENHAVER, JR., United States District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia, sitting by designation.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  David Christopher Drake, Johnson & Associates, P.C., Arlington, Virginia, for Petitioner.  Kevin James Conway, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.   ON BRIEF:  Randall L. Johnson, Johnson & Associates, P.C., Arlington, Virginia, for Petitioner.   Gregory G. Katsas, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Richard M. Evans, Assistant Director, Virginia Lum, Trial Attorney, Office of Immigration Litigation, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.