12-4567
Haxhari v. Holder
BIA
A095 467 979
A095 467 980
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
SUMMARY ORDER
RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER
FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF
APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT’S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER
IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN
ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING A SUMMARY
ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.
1 At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals
2 for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United
3 States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York,
4 on the 24th day of October, two thousand thirteen.
5
6 PRESENT:
7 ROBERT D. SACK,
8 BARRINGTON D. PARKER,
9 DENNY CHIN,
10 Circuit Judges.
11 _____________________________________
12
13 ALTIN HAXHARI, RITA HAXHARI,
14 Petitioners,
15
16 v. 12-4567
17 NAC
18 ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES
19 ATTORNEY GENERAL,
20 Respondent.
21 _____________________________________
22
23 FOR PETITIONERS: Michael P. DiRaimondo, DiRaimondo &
24 Masi, LLP, Melville, NY.
25
26 FOR RESPONDENT: Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant
27 Attorney General; Mary Jane Candaux,
28 Assistant Director; Michael C.
29 Heyse, Trial Attorney, Office of
30 Immigration Litigation, United
31 States Department of Justice,
32 Washington, D.C.
1 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a
2 Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby
3 ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED, that the petition for review
4 is DENIED.
5 Petitioners Altin and Rita Haxhari, natives and
6 citizens of Albania, seek review of the October 31, 2012,
7 decision of the BIA denying their motion to reopen. In re
8 Altin Haxhari, et al., Nos. A095 467 979/980 (B.I.A. Oct.
9 31, 2012). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the
10 underlying facts and procedural history of the case.
11 An alien seeking to reopen proceedings may file one
12 motion to reopen no later than 90 days after the date on
13 which the final administrative decision was rendered.
14 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i); 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2).
15 There is no dispute that Altin Haxhari’s May 2012 motion was
16 untimely and number-barred, as it was his third motion to
17 reopen, filed more than seven years after the BIA’s final
18 administrative decision.* See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i);
19 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2). The time and number limitations do
20 not apply to a motion to reopen if it is “based on changed
*
The claims of Altin Haxhari’s wife, Rita, are entirely
derivative of his claim.
2
1 circumstances arising in the country of nationality . . . if
2 such evidence is material and was not available and could
3 not have been discovered or presented at the previous
4 hearing.” 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(3)(ii); see also 8 U.S.C.
5 § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii).
6 With regard to Haxhari’s political activism claim, the
7 BIA found that Haxhari failed to show that his fears were on
8 account of a protected ground, rather than due to general
9 unrest and instability. While Haxhari contended that
10 Albania had “become particularly dangerous for politically
11 active persons such as” himself, in 2003 an IJ found Haxhari
12 to be not credible with regard to his claim that he had been
13 politically active in Albania, and Haxhari presented no
14 evidence in his motion to reopen that showed political
15 activism on his part, or rebutted in any way the adverse
16 credibility determination. Accordingly, the BIA’s
17 determination that Haxhari had not established changed
18 country conditions that were material to his claim is
19 supported by substantial evidence. See Jian Hui Shao v.
20 Mukasey, 546 F.3d 138, 169 (2d Cir. 2008).
21 Moreover, as to his claim regarding a blood feud,
22 Haxhari submitted no new evidence specific to his situation,
3
1 rather, his evidence described generally the prevalence of
2 blood feuds in Albania. Accordingly, because, as we stated
3 in our decision denying Haxhari’s prior petition for review,
4 Haxhari provided evidence that the individual who set his
5 house on fire was arrested and detained after doing so, and
6 that the Committee of Nationwide Reconciliation was
7 mediating the feud between the two families, he did not show
8 that the Albanian government was unable or unwilling to
9 protect him or his family from this blood feud. See
10 Ivanishvili v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 433 F.3d 332, 342 (2d
11 Cir. 2006). Accordingly, the BIA did not abuse its
12 discretion in denying Haxhari’s motion to reopen because his
13 evidence failed to establish either changed country
14 conditions or a prima facie case for asylum. See 8 U.S.C.
15 § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); INS v. Abudu, 485 U.S. 94, 104-05
16 (1988); Kaur v. BIA, 413 F.3d 232, 233 (2d Cir. 2005) (per
17 curiam).
18 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is
19 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of
20 removal that the Court previously granted in this petition
21 is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in
22 this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for
4
1 oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with
2 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second
3 Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b).
4 FOR THE COURT:
5 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk
5