11-4189 BIA
Zhou v. Holder A095 467 934
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 5th day of September, two thousand twelve.
5
6 PRESENT:
7 REENA RAGGI,
8 DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON,
9 CHRISTOPHER F. DRONEY,
10 Circuit Judges.
11 _____________________________________
12
13 QIN ZHOU,
14 Petitioner,
15
16 v. 11-4189
17 NAC
18 ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., UNITED STATES
19 ATTORNEY GENERAL,
20 Respondent.
21 _____________________________________
22
23 FOR PETITIONER: David X. Feng, New York, New York.
24
25 FOR RESPONDENT: Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant
26 Attorney General; Terri J. Scadron,
27 Assistant Director; Lisa Morinelli,
28 Trial Attorney, Office of
29 Immigration Litigation, Civil
30 Division, United States Department
31 of Justice, Washington, D.C.
1
2 UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a
3 decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), it is
4 hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the petition for
5 review is DENIED.
6 Qin Zhou, a native and citizen of the People’s Republic
7 of China, seeks review of a September 19, 2011, order of the
8 BIA denying her motion to reopen. In re Qin Zhou, No. A095
9 467 934 (B.I.A. Sept. 19, 2011). We assume the parties’
10 familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history
11 of this case.
12 We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen for
13 abuse of discretion, mindful of the Supreme Court’s
14 admonition that such motions are “disfavored.” Ali v.
15 Gonzales, 448 F.3d 515, 517 (2d Cir. 2006) (per curiam)
16 (quoting INS v. Doherty, 502 U.S. 314, 23 (1992)). There is
17 no dispute that Zhou’s 2011 motion to reopen was untimely
18 because her administrative order of removal became final in
19 2009. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i); 8 C.F.R.
20 § 1003.2(c)(2). Zhou argues that her motion to reopen is
21 excused from the time limitation based on changed conditions
22 arising in China since the time of her 2007 merits hearing.
23 See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); 8 C.F.R.
2
1 § 1003.2(c)(3)(ii). We find no abuse of discretion in the
2 BIA’s denial of her motion to reopen as untimely.
3 Initially, the BIA reasonably determined that Zhou’s
4 motion failed to establish changed conditions in China
5 because her conversion to Christianity in the United States,
6 which occurred after her removal order, was a change in
7 personal circumstances, not a change of conditions “arising
8 in” China. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); 8 C.F.R.
9 § 1003.2(c)(3)(ii); see Yuen Jin v. Mukasey, 538 F.3d 143,
10 155 (2d Cir. 2008).
11 Moreover, the BIA reasonably found that the background
12 evidence submitted with Zhou’s motion to reopen did not show
13 that the Chinese government’s treatment of Christians had
14 changed since the time of her 2007 hearing. See Matter of
15 S-Y-G-, 24 I&N Dec. 247, 253 (BIA 2007). The BIA compared
16 the evidence of country conditions after Zhou’s 2007 hearing
17 with the evidence in the administrative record at the time
18 of her hearing, and reasonably concluded that the record did
19 not establish worsening conditions for Christians. See Zhi
20 Yun Gao v. Mukasey, 508 F.3d 86, 87 (2d Cir. 2007) (per
21 curiam) (the BIA is not required to “expressly parse or
22 refute on the record each individual argument or piece of
3
1 evidence offered by the petitioner” (internal quotation
2 marks omitted)).
3 For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is
4 DENIED. As we have completed our review, any stay of
5 removal that the Court previously granted in this petition
6 is VACATED, and any pending motion for a stay of removal in
7 this petition is DISMISSED as moot. Any pending request for
8 oral argument in this petition is DENIED in accordance with
9 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34(a)(2), and Second
10 Circuit Local Rule 34.1(b).
11 FOR THE COURT:
12 Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk
13
14
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