13-50
Moustain v. Holder
BIA
Hom, IJ
A097 535 718
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.
At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals
for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United
States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York,
on the 23rd day of July, two thousand fourteen.
PRESENT:
ROBERT A. KATZMANN,
Chief Judge,
SUSAN L. CARNEY,
CHRISTOPHER F. DRONEY,
Circuit Judges.
_____________________________________
NAOUFAL ALAOUI MOUSTAIN,
Petitioner,
v. 13-50
NAC
ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES
ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Respondent.
_____________________________________
FOR PETITIONER: Lawrence Spivak, Jamaica, NY.
FOR RESPONDENT: Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney
General; John S. Hogan, Senior
Litigation Counsel; David H.
Wetmore, Trial Attorney, Office of
Immigration Litigation, United
States Department of Justice,
Washington, D.C.
UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a
Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, it is hereby
ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that the petition for review
is DENIED.
Petitioner Naoufal Alaoui Moustain, a native and
citizen of Morocco, seeks review of a December 14, 2012,
decision of the BIA affirming a December 13, 2010, decision
of Immigration Judge (“IJ”) Sandy K. Hom denying his motion
to reopen. In re Naoufal Alaoui Moustain, No. A097 535 718
(B.I.A. Dec. 14, 2012), aff’g No. A097 535 718 (Immig. Ct.
N.Y.C. Dec. 13, 2010). We have considered both the IJ’s and
the BIA’s opinions “for the sake of completeness.” Zaman v.
Mukasey, 514 F.3d 233, 237 (2d Cir. 2008) (per curiam)
(quoting Wangchuck v. DHS, 448 F.3d 524, 528 (2d Cir.
2006)). We review the agency’s denial of a motion to reopen
for abuse of discretion. See Ali v. Gonzales, 448 F.3d 515,
517 (2d Cir. 2006) (per curiam). We assume the parties’
familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history
in this case.
Moustain first argues that the BIA erred in not
transcribing two prior hearings and requests that his case
be remanded for transcription. Additionally, Moustain
2
contends that his counsel during his 2007 deportation
proceeding was ineffective because he did not raise the
issue of Moustain’s incompetence at that time. However, as
the government notes, Moustain failed to raise either of
these claims before the agency. Because these claims are
unexhausted, we decline to consider them here. See Lin Zhong
v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 480 F.3d 104, 119-20, 124 (2d Cir.
2007); Garcia-Martinez v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 448 F.3d
511, 513 (2d Cir. 2006).
With respect to the issues properly before the Court,
we find that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in
concluding that Moustain’s motion to reopen was both
untimely and numerically barred. An alien seeking to reopen
proceedings may file one motion to reopen no later than 90
days after the date on which the final administrative
decision was rendered. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(A), (C)(i); 8
C.F.R. § 1003.23(b)(1). Here, Moustain’s June 2010 motion
was his second motion to reopen and was filed more than two
years after the IJ’s December 2007 final order of removal,
making it both untimely and number-barred.1 In any case, the
1
The time and number limitations on a motion to reopen
may be excused to accommodate claims of ineffective
assistance of counsel. See Rashid v. Mukasey, 533 F.3d 127,
3
BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Moustain’s
motion to reopen on the merits, as the BIA was entitled to
conclude from the record before it that Moustain failed to
establish that his depression affected the outcome of the
December 2007 proceedings.
For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is
DENIED.
FOR THE COURT:
Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk
132 (2d Cir. 2008). However, as discussed above, Moustain
failed to administratively exhaust his claim that his 2007
attorney was ineffective.
4