[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
No. 10-14775 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
Non-Argument Calendar JUNE 17, 2011
________________________ JOHN LEY
CLERK
Agency No. A096-098-284
AUGUSTO RAMIREZ-MORENO,
MARTHA OLIVA SALAZAR-JIMENEZ,
STEPHANY RAMIREZ-SALAZAR,
NATHALIE RAMIREZ-SALAZAR,
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Petitioners,
versus
U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL,
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Respondent.
________________________
Petition for Review of a Decision of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
________________________
(June 17, 2011)
Before BARKETT, WILSON and BLACK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Augusto Ramirez-Moreno, his wife, and two children, all natives and
citizens of Colombia, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’s
(“BIA”) denial of their motion to reopen removal proceedings on the basis of
changed country conditions.1 On appeal, Ramirez-Moreno argues that his in-laws
in Colombia detailed threats and harassment in affidavits that were submitted to
the BIA with his motion to reopen removal proceedings. He maintains that his
relatives are now being harmed by the National Liberation Army (“ELN”) to
punish him. He contends that harm to an applicant’s family or friends can amount
to persecution of the applicant and can provide a well-founded fear of persecution.
We review the denial of a motion to reopen an immigration petition for an
abuse of discretion. Jiang v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 568 F.3d 1252, 1256 (11th Cir.
2009). Our review “is limited to determining whether the BIA exercised its
discretion in an arbitrary or capricious manner.” Id.
Motions to reopen removal proceedings are particularly disfavored, and:
there are at least three independent grounds upon which the BIA may
deny a motion to reopen: 1) failure to establish a prima facie case; 2)
failure to introduce evidence that was material and previously
unavailable; and 3) a determination that despite the alien’s statutory
eligibility for relief, he or she is not entitled to a favorable exercise of
1
Ramirez-Moreno’s wife and children were listed as derivative applicants on his
application for asylum. For convenience, this opinion refers only to Ramirez-Moreno, but it is
equally applicable to his wife and children.
2
discretion.
Id. (alterations omitted). An alien may generally file only one motion to reopen no
later than 90 days after the final administrative decision ordering removal. Id.
These time and numerical limitations, however, do not apply
when (1) an alien files a motion to reopen that seeks asylum,
withholding of removal, or relief under the Convention Against
Torture; (2) the motion is predicated on changed country conditions;
and (3) the changed conditions are material and could not have been
discovered at the time of the removal proceedings.
Id. Proving that evidence is material is a “heavy burden” because an alien seeking
to reopen removal proceedings on the basis of changed country conditions must
demonstrate “that, if the proceedings were opened, the new evidence would likely
change the result of the case.” Id. at 1256-57. Upon review of the record and
consideration of the parties’ briefs, under this standard, we must deny his petition
for review.
As a preliminary matter, we note that, in his initial brief, Ramirez-Moreno
does not address the BIA’s denial of his motion for a stay of removal or denial of
relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Accordingly,
Ramirez-Moreno has abandoned any challenge to the BIA’s decision on those
issues. See Djonda v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 514 F.3d 1168, 1173 (11th Cir. 2008)
(stating that “when an appellant fails to offer argument on an issue, that issue is
3
abandoned” (quotation and alteration omitted)).
Similarly, Ramirez-Moreno does not specifically contend that the BIA
erred in concluding that he failed to establish changed country conditions in
Colombia. Instead, he contends that he has presented evidence that the ELN is
threatening his family members, and such evidence is material to demonstrate
persecution and a well-founded fear of persecution. Ramirez-Moreno’s brief is
insufficient to raise the issue of changed country conditions on appeal, and, as
such, he has abandoned his claim of changed country conditions. See Lapaix v.
U.S. Att’y Gen., 605 F.3d 1138, 1145 (11th Cir. 2010) (holding that “[p]assing
reference to issues are insufficient to raise a claim for appeal”); Djonda, 514 F.3d
at 1173. Therefore, he has failed to preserve any cognizable issue for review.
Even assuming that Ramirez-Moreno sufficiently raised the issue of
changed country conditions, the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying his
motion to reopen. Ramirez-Moreno’s evidence did not address prevailing
conditions in Colombia, much less evince a change in those conditions. As such,
the evidence failed to demonstrate “that, if the proceedings were opened, the new
evidence would likely change the result of the case.” Jiang, 568 F.3d at 1256-57.
Accordingly, Ramirez-Moreno failed to meet his heavy burden of demonstrating
changed country conditions and the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying his
4
untimely motion to reopen.
PETITION DENIED.
5