Filed: Dec. 15, 2010
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS No. 10-12913 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT Non-Argument Calendar DECEMBER 15, 2010 _ JOHN LEY CLERK Agency No. A029-918-545 CESAR RULLIER, MARIA RULLIER, Petitioners, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. _ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals _ (December 15, 2010) Before DUBINA, Chief Judge, HULL and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Pro se Petitioner Cesar R
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ FILED U.S. COURT OF APPEALS No. 10-12913 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT Non-Argument Calendar DECEMBER 15, 2010 _ JOHN LEY CLERK Agency No. A029-918-545 CESAR RULLIER, MARIA RULLIER, Petitioners, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. _ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals _ (December 15, 2010) Before DUBINA, Chief Judge, HULL and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Pro se Petitioner Cesar Ru..
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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
No. 10-12913 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
Non-Argument Calendar DECEMBER 15, 2010
________________________ JOHN LEY
CLERK
Agency No. A029-918-545
CESAR RULLIER,
MARIA RULLIER,
Petitioners,
versus
U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Respondent.
________________________
Petition for Review of a Decision of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
________________________
(December 15, 2010)
Before DUBINA, Chief Judge, HULL and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Pro se Petitioner Cesar Rullier, a native and citizen of Peru, along with his
wife Maria Rullier as rider, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of
Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his motion to reopen, 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c);
Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) § 240(c)(7), 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7).
The Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denied Rullier’s application for asylum and
withholding of removal based on an adverse credibility determination, and the
BIA affirmed this decision without opinion in a decision dated August 30, 2002.
Rullier waited until 2009 to move the BIA to reopen the proceedings, arguing that
he received ineffective assistance of counsel, and presenting new evidence to
support his fear of persecution. However, the BIA denied this motion in a
decision dated May 27, 2010, and Rullier timely appealed this decision. On
appeal, Rullier argues that (1) the IJ erred in making the adverse credibility
determination, (2) he presented new evidence sufficient to qualify for withholding
of removal, and (3) he received ineffective assistance of counsel.
The BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen is reviewed for an abuse of
discretion. Abdi v. U.S. Att’y Gen.,
430 F.3d 1148, 1149 (11th Cir. 2005). Our
review is limited to determining whether the BIA’s exercise of its discretion was
arbitrary or capricious.
Id.
“A motion to reopen proceedings shall state the new facts that will be
proven at a hearing to be held if the motion is granted and shall be supported by
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affidavits or other evidentiary material.” 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(1); see also INA
§ 240(c)(7)(B), 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(B). A motion to reopen “must be filed no
later than 90 days after the date on which the final administrative decision was
rendered in the proceeding sought to be reopened.” 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2); see
also INA § 240(c)(7)(C)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i). This filing period “is
mandatory and jurisdictional, and, therefore, it is not subject to equitable tolling.”
Abdi, 430 F.3d at 1150. However, the 90-day time limitation does not apply to a
motion to reopen asylum proceedings based upon “changed circumstances arising
in the country of nationality or in the country to which deportation has been
ordered, if such evidence is material and was not available and could not have
been discovered or presented at the previous hearing.” 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(3)(ii);
see also INA § 240(c)(7)(C)(ii), 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii).
As an initial matter, we conclude from the record that we lack jurisdiction to
review the BIA’s August 30, 2002, decision denying Rullier’s application for
asylum because the June 25, 2010, petition for review was not filed within 30 days
of the entry of that order. Accordingly, Rullier’s petition is dismissed to the extent
he challenges any rulings in the IJ’s decision, including its adverse credibility
determination. See INA § 242(b)(1), 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(1); Dakane v. U.S. Att’y
Gen.,
399 F.3d 1269, 1272 n.3 (11th Cir. 2005) (explaining that the period for
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filing a petition for review “is mandatory and jurisdictional, [and] not subject to
equitable tolling” (internal quotation marks omitted)).
Rullier has failed to offer any argument on appeal regarding the BIA’s
denial of his motion to reopen as untimely. Moreover, he has failed to offer any
argument regarding the BIA’s conclusion that he failed to establish changed
country conditions sufficient to excuse his untimely filing. While he does mention
one piece of evidence, an affidavit from a former Peruvian military leader, he does
so only in the context of proving his underlying fear of persecution, which has
nothing to do with changed country conditions. Additionally, ineffective
assistance of counsel will not excuse an untimely filing. See
Abdi, 430 F.3d at
1150 n.2 (declining to address the petitioner’s ineffective assistance of counsel
claim because the motion to reopen was filed after the mandatory 90-day
deadline). Accordingly, Rullier has abandoned review of the only issue on appeal.
See Timson v. Sampson,
518 F.3d 870, 874 (11th Cir. 2008) (noting that pro se
litigants abandon issues not briefed on appeal). For the aforementioned reasons,
we dismiss the petition in part and deny it in part.
PETITION DISMISSED IN PART, DENIED IN PART.
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