Mendiola v. HolderMendiola v. Holder
Petitioner Eddie Mendiola petitions this Court to review the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA or Board) denial of his second motion to reopen his removal proceedings. As a threshold matter, Petitioner argues the BIA erred in holding that
A motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider [before the BIA] shall not be made by or on behalf of a person who is the subject of exclusion, deportation, or removal proceedings subsequent to his or her departure from the United States. Any departure from the United States, including the deportation or removal of a person who is the subject of exclusion, deportation, or removal proceedings, occurring after the filing of a motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider, shall constitute a withdrawal of such motion.
See also
We have jurisdiction over the petition under
I.
Petitioner became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 1989. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiated removal proceedings against him in 2004 based on, among other things, two state convictions for possession of steroids. After an administrative hearing, an immigration judge (IJ) ruled Petitioner removable and ordered him removed to Peru.
1
Petitioner appealed the IJ’s decision to the BIA. The BIA affirmed. Petitioner then filed a petition for review with us, which we denied.
Mendiola v. Gonzales,
After he returned to the United States illegally and while in federal custody, Petitioner in 2007 filed his first motion to reopen with the BIA. The BIA determined that
At some point after our denial of Petitioner’s second petition for review, he obtained new counsel. New counsel in 2008 filed a second motion to reopen Petitioner’s case with the BIA. Petitioner based his second motion to reopen upon his former attorney’s ineffectiveness and a California court’s reduction of his second steroid possession conviction from a felony to a misdemeanor in 2007. DHS opposed Petitioner’s motion. The BIA ultimately denied Petitioner’s second motion to reopen, concluding again that Petitioner was “precluded by
II.
The Attorney General in 1952 first promulgated the regulatory post-departure bar to motions to reopen or reconsider before the BIA and an IJ: “A motion to reopen or a motion to reconsider shall not be made by or on behalf of a person who is the subject of deportation proceedings subsequent to his departure from the United States.” 17 Fed.Reg. 11,469, 11,475 (Dec. 19, 1952) (originally codified at
Congress, in September 1996, passed significant immigration reform known as the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009;
see also Rosillo-Puga,
After briefing concluded in this case, we decided
Rosillo-Puga.
In
Rosillo-Puga,
the petitioner was removed to Mexico in 2003 pursuant to an IJ’s order.
Rosillo-Puga,
Relying on
William v. Gonzales,
In
Rosillo-Puga,
we disagreed with the
William
majority and, instead, reached the same conclusion as the
William
dissent. Employing the
Chevron
framework for reviewing an agency’s construction of the statute it administers,
Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc.,
Prior to oral argument, we asked the parties in this case to be prepared to discuss
Rosillo-Puga’s
application. Petitioner conceded at oral argument that
Rosillo-Puga
divests the BIA of its sua sponte authority as set forth in
In pertinent part,
We may not overrule another panel of this court. “We are bound by the precedent of prior panels absent en banc consideration or a superseding contrary decision by the Supreme Court.”
U.S. v. Smith,
We are not alone in our approach to Petitioner’s arguments. In
Canchola-Velez v. Filip,
The petition for review is DENIED.
Notes
. Aliens convicted of an aggravated felony are removable.
. In August 2008, this charge was dismissed without prejudice on the Government’s motion pursuant to
. Other circuits have wrestled with the meaning of the regulatory post-departure bar, but the Fourth Circuit is the only other circuit to have addressed whether it conflicts with
. The entire panel in
Rosillo-Puga
agreed that the post-departure bar, assuming its validity, prohibited motions to reopen filed by or on behalf of those aliens who, like Rosillo-Puga, had departed the country after the conclusion of their removal proceedings.
See Rosillo-Puga,
. In
Rosillo-Puga,
Judge O'Brien issued a concurring opinion, but joined the Court's opinion (per Anderson, J.) in full to avoid leaving this issue unresolved in our circuit.
Rosillo-Puga,
. We note, for the sake of clarity, that
. We realize, as discussed above, that the panel disagreed as to the validity of the regulatory post-departure bar in light of 8 U.S.C