Case: 09-60595 Document: 00511242939 Page: 1 Date Filed: 09/23/2010
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
September 23, 2010
No. 09-60595
Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
FERDINAND NIDAVIS NWOKEDI,
Petitioner
v.
ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Respondent
Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
BIA No. A078-130-347
Before JOLLY, GARZA and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Ferdinand Nidavis Nwokedi, a native and citizen of Nigeria, has filed a
petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision
dismissing his appeal of the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of his request for a
continuance and cancellation of removal and grant of voluntary departure.
Nwokedi asserts that the IJ erred by denying his motion to continue. Nwokedi,
however, does not brief any argument regarding the BIA’s determination that
he failed to show good cause for a continuance. He also does not address the
*
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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR .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: 09-60595 Document: 00511242939 Page: 2 Date Filed: 09/23/2010
No. 09-60595
BIA’s determination that he failed to show that the denial of his motion to
continue violated any of his statutory or regulatory rights or that his hearing
was unfair. Nwokedi’s conclusional statement on appeal about the denial of his
motion to continue is insufficient to preserve the issue for review. Brinkmann
v. Dallas County Deputy Sheriff Abner, 813 F.2d 744, 748 (5th Cir. 1987).
Nwokedi, who is represented by counsel, is not entitled to a liberal construction
of his arguments. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972) (pro se briefs
must be liberally construed). Because Nwokedi’s counsel failed to sufficiently
argue whether the motion to continue was improperly denied, the issue is
abandoned. See Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 224-25 (5th Cir. 1993)
(arguments not briefed on appeal are deemed abandoned).
Nwokedi’s appeal also conclusionally states that he qualifies and is
entitled to cancellation of removal. The IJ found that Nwokedi was not entitled
to cancellation of removal because he could not prove the ten year continuous
presence requirement or the exceptional and extremely unusual hardship
requirement. Nwokedi fails to identify and brief any arguments challenging
these reasons for the denial of relief. Thus, these issues are deemed abandoned.
Yohey, 985 F.2d at 224-25; Brinkmann, 813 F.2d at 748. Furthermore, even if
Nwokedi’s challenge to the denial of cancellation of removal was not abandoned,
under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i), this court does not have jurisdiction to review
any judgment regarding the granting or denying of discretionary relief in the
form of cancellation of removal. See Rueda v. Ashcroft, 380 F.3d 831, 831 (5th
Cir. 2004).
Nwokedi’s appeal is DISMISSED. His motion to stay his removal is
DENIED as MOOT.
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