Reyes-Francisco v. Holder

10-2293-ag Reyes-Francisco v. Holder BIA A075 418 435 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 19th day of April, two thousand eleven. 5 6 PRESENT: 7 ROBERT A. KATZMANN, 8 DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON, 9 RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR., 10 Circuit Judges. 11 _________________________________________ 12 13 ENRIQUE REYES-FRANCISCO, 14 Petitioner, 15 16 v. 10-2293-ag 17 NAC 18 ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES 19 ATTORNEY GENERAL, 20 Respondent. 21 _________________________________________ 22 23 FOR PETITIONER: Howard Laurence Baker, Wilens & 24 Baker, P.C., New York, New York. 25 26 FOR RESPONDENT: Tony West, Assistant Attorney 27 General; Mary Jane Candaux, 28 Assistant Director; Rosanne M. 29 Perry, 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 Petitioner Enrique Reyes-Francisco, a native and 6 citizen of Mexico, seeks review of a May 13, 2010 decision 7 of the BIA denying his motion to reconsider its denial of 8 his motion to reopen. In re Enrique Reyes-Francisco, No. 9 A075 418 435 (B.I.A. May 13, 2010). We assume the parties’ 10 familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history 11 of the case. 12 We review for abuse of discretion the BIA’s denial of a 13 motion to reconsider. See Jin Ming Liu v. Gonzales, 439 14 F.3d 109, 111 (2d Cir. 2006). As an initial matter, because 15 Reyes-Francisco has filed a timely petition for review from 16 the denial of his motion to reconsider, but not from the 17 underlying decision for which reconsideration is sought, we 18 review only the denial of the motion to reconsider. See Ke 19 Zhen Zhao v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 265 F.3d 83, 89-90 (2d 20 Cir. 2001). We therefore lack jurisdiction to review his 21 ineffective assistance of counsel claim against Ms. Sheri 22 Paige, which he raised in his motion to reopen. See 8 23 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(1). 2 1 The BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Reyes- 2 Francisco’s motion to reconsider. Reyes-Francisco argues 3 that the BIA erred in finding that he could not properly 4 bring a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel against 5 Mr. Mario DeMarco – the sole principal of the law firm that 6 employed Reyes-Francisco’s attorney of record, Mr. Mark C. 7 Salvucci – when Mr. DeMarco did not personally represent him 8 in his removal proceedings. In rejecting this claim, the 9 BIA reasonably relied on the agency’s regulations, which 10 recognize only those attorneys who submit a notice of 11 appearance and personally practice before the Executive 12 Office for Immigration Review. See 8 C.F.R. § 1001.1(i) 13 (defining the term practice as “the act or acts of any 14 person appearing in any case, either in person or through 15 the preparation or filing of any brief or other document, 16 paper, application, or petition on behalf of another person 17 or client before or with DHS, or any immigration judge, or 18 the Board.”); see also 8 C.F.R. § 1292.4(a) (“An appearance 19 shall be filed on the appropriate form by the attorney or 20 representative appearing in each case”); cf. Fuentes-Argueta 21 v. INS, 101 F.3d 867, 872-73 (2d Cir. 1996) (finding no 22 denial of the right to counsel in the decision of an 3 1 Immigration Judge declining to recognize as counsel of 2 record an attorney who had not filed a formal notice of 3 appearance). Furthermore, contrary to Reyes-Francisco’s 4 argument, the BIA did not abuse its discretion by failing 5 explicitly to consider his challenge to its due diligence 6 finding because its alternative finding that there was no 7 basis for an ineffective assistance of counsel claim against 8 Mr. DeMarco was dispositive of Reyes-Francisco’s motion to 9 reconsider. See Cekic v. INS, 435 F.3d 167, 170 (2d Cir. 10 2006) (requiring an alien to demonstrate due diligence 11 independent from the requirement of demonstrating 12 ineffective assistance of former counsel). 13 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is 14 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of 15 removal that the Court previously granted in this petition 16 is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in 17 this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for 18 oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with 19 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second 20 Circuit Local Rule 34.1 (b). 21 FOR THE COURT: 22 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk 23 24 4