Filed: Sep. 16, 2020
Latest Update: Sep. 16, 2020
Summary: 18-2497 Li v. Barr BIA A200 741 552 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 O
Summary: 18-2497 Li v. Barr BIA A200 741 552 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 OR..
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18-2497
Li v. Barr
BIA
A200 741 552
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 TO 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 16th day of September, two thousand twenty.
PRESENT:
ROSEMARY S. POOLER,
JOSEPH F. BIANCO,
WILLIAM J. NARDINI,
Circuit Judges.
_____________________________________
XIANG JIN LI, AKA SUN MI JUN,
AKA SUN MI LEE JUN,
Petitioner,
v. 18-2497
NAC
WILLIAM P. BARR, UNITED STATES
ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Respondent.
_____________________________________
FOR PETITIONER: Erin O’Neil-Baker, Hartford
Legal Group, LLC, Hartford, CT.
FOR RESPONDENT: Joseph H. Hunt, Assistant
Attorney General; Liza S. Murcia,
Senior Litigation Counsel; Abigail
E. Leach, Trial Attorney, Office
of Immigration Litigation, United
States Department of Justice,
Washington, DC.
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 Xiang Jin Li, a native and citizen of the
People’s Republic of China, seeks review of an August 3, 2018,
decision of the BIA, denying her motion to reopen. In re
Xiang Jin Li, No. A200 741 552 (B.I.A. Aug. 3, 2018). We
assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and
procedural history.
The applicable standards of review are well established.
See Jian Hui Shao v. Mukasey,
546 F.3d 138, 168-69 (2d Cir.
2008). In her motion to reopen, Li asserted that conditions
for Christians, ethnic Koreans, and dissidents had worsened
in China thereby excusing the untimely filing of her motion
and demonstrating her prima facie eligibility for asylum.
It is undisputed that Li’s 2018 motion to reopen was
untimely filed more than four years after her removal order
became final in 2013. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i);
8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2). A late filing is excused if
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petitioner, seeking to apply for asylum, moves to reopen
“based on changed country conditions arising in the country
of nationality or the country to which removal has been
ordered, if such evidence is material and was not available
and would not have been discovered or presented at the
previous proceeding.” 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii);
8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(3). The BIA did not err in finding that
Li failed to demonstrate such conditions.
“In determining whether evidence accompanying a motion
to reopen demonstrates a material change in country
conditions that would justify reopening, [the BIA] compare[s]
the evidence of country conditions submitted with the motion
to those that existed at the time of the merits hearing
below.” In re S-Y-G-, 24 I. & N. Dec. 247, 253 (B.I.A. 2007).
As the BIA found, Li’s evidence demonstrated that the Chinese
government has viewed unfavorably and mistreated unregistered
Christian groups to varying degrees depending on region prior
to Li’s 2012 hearing. Li’s evidence also failed to establish
changed conditions for ethnic Koreans in China, discussing
instead the Chinese government’s consistent policy of
detaining and returning North Korean refugees. Finally, Li’s
3
evidence showed that the Chinese government has criminalized
unlawful border crossings and monitored and detained
dissidents since before her hearing, and she did not establish
that the Chinese government perceives or would perceive her
to be a dissident.
Accordingly, because Li did not establish a material
change in country conditions, the BIA did not abuse its
discretion in denying her motion to reopen as untimely. See
8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C). We do not reach the BIA’s
alternative basis for denying Li’s motion—her failure to
establish her prima facie eligibility for relief. See INS
v. Bagamasbad,
429 U.S. 24, 25 (1976) (“As a general rule
courts and agencies are not required to make findings on
issues the decision of which is unnecessary to the results
they reach.”).
For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is
DENIED.
FOR THE COURT:
Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe,
Clerk of Court
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