Ajdin v. Holder

09-4216-ag Ajdin v. Holder BIA A070 894 856 A075 314 837 A075 314 838 A075 314 839 A075 314 840 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 Daniel Patrick Moynihan 3 United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, in the City of 4 New York, on the 16 th day of June, two thousand ten. 5 6 PRESENT: 7 RALPH K. WINTER, 8 JOSÉ A. CABRANES, 9 DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON, 10 Circuit Judges. 11 _______________________________________ 12 13 ARIF AJDIN, FATIMA AJDINOVSKA, MIRSADA 14 AJDINOVSKA, SABAN AJDINOVSKA, ALMA 15 AJDINOVSKA, 16 Petitioners, 17 18 v. 09-4216-ag 19 NAC 20 21 ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., U.S. ATTORNEY 22 GENERAL, 23 Respondent. 24 _______________________________________ 25 26 FOR PETITIONERS: Michael P. Diraimondo, Melville, New 27 York. 1 FOR RESPONDENT: Tony West, Assistant Attorney 2 General, Richard M. Evans, Assistant 3 Director, Sada Manickam, Attorney, 4 Office of Immigration Litigation, 5 Civil Division, United States 6 Department of Justice, Washington, 7 D.C. 1 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a 2 decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), it is 3 hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED, that the petition for 4 review is DENIED. 5 Petitioners, all natives of the former Yugoslavia and 6 citizens of Macedonia, seek review of a September 30, 2009, 7 order of the BIA denying their motion to reopen their 8 removal proceedings. In re Ajdin, et. al., Nos. A070 894 9 856, A075 314 837-840 (B.I.A. Sept. 30, 2009). We assume 10 the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and 11 procedural history of the case. 12 We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen for 13 abuse of discretion. See Ali v. Gonzales, 448 F.3d 515, 517 14 (2d Cir. 2006). An alien who has been ordered removed may 15 file one motion to reopen, but must do so within 90 days of 16 the final administrative decision. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7). 17 Here, the BIA properly denied Petitioners’ motion to reopen 18 as untimely and number-barred because they filed it almost 2 1 seven years after their October 2001 final order of removal 2 and it was the third such motion they had filed. See id.; 3 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2). 4 Although the time and numerical limits may be excused 5 when the movant alleges changed country conditions, 8 U.S.C. 6 § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii), the BIA reasonably found that the 7 evidence Petitioners submitted merely “reflect[ed] a 8 continuation of circumstances substantially similar to those 9 that existed at the time of [their] hearing.” Indeed, much 10 of the evidence Petitioners included with their motion was 11 previously available or reflected ongoing civil strife in 12 Macedonia rather than a material change. Therefore, 13 substantial evidence supports the BIA’s determination that 14 Petitioners failed to establish changed country conditions. 15 See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2), (c)(3)(ii); see also Jian Hui 16 Shao v. Mukasey, 546 F.3d 138, 169 (2d Cir. 2008). 17 Furthermore, a reasonable fact-finder would not be 18 compelled to conclude that the BIA ignored any material 19 evidence that Petitioners submitted. Wei Guang Wang v. BIA, 20 437 F.3d 270, 275 (2d Cir. 2006). To the contrary, it is 21 apparent that the BIA considered Petitioners’ evidence, and 22 made reasonable findings based on the record. See Xiao Ji 3 1 Chen v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 471 F.3d 315, 337 n.17 (2d 2 Cir. 2006). 3 Finally, there is no merit to Petitioners’ argument 4 that the BIA’s decision was arbitrary and capricious because 5 it contradicted its findings in another case. First, the 6 case Petitioners cite was unpublished and, thus, not binding 7 on the BIA. See Ajdin v. BCIS, 437 F.3d 261, 264-65 (2d 8 Cir. 2006). Second, unlike in that case, Petitioners here 9 do not assert that the agency applied the wrong legal 10 standard. 11 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is 12 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of 13 removal that the Court previously granted in this petition 14 is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in 15 this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for 16 oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with 17 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second 18 Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b). 19 20 FOR THE COURT: 21 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk 22 4