Filed: Nov. 14, 2007
Latest Update: Mar. 28, 2017
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 06-1734 SAMUEL ADEREMI AWOYINKA, Petitioner, versus PETER D. KEISLER, Acting Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. (A72-720-650) Submitted: September 21, 2007 Decided: November 14, 2007 Before MICHAEL, KING, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Joseph M. Kum, AMITY, KUM & SULEMAN, P.A., Greenbelt, Maryland, for Petitioner.
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 06-1734 SAMUEL ADEREMI AWOYINKA, Petitioner, versus PETER D. KEISLER, Acting Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. (A72-720-650) Submitted: September 21, 2007 Decided: November 14, 2007 Before MICHAEL, KING, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Joseph M. Kum, AMITY, KUM & SULEMAN, P.A., Greenbelt, Maryland, for Petitioner. ..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 06-1734
SAMUEL ADEREMI AWOYINKA,
Petitioner,
versus
PETER D. KEISLER, Acting Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration
Appeals. (A72-720-650)
Submitted: September 21, 2007 Decided: November 14, 2007
Before MICHAEL, KING, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.
Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Joseph M. Kum, AMITY, KUM & SULEMAN, P.A., Greenbelt, Maryland,
for Petitioner. Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, M.
Jocelyn Lopez Wright, Assistant Director, Daniel E. Goldman, Office
of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,
Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Samuel Aderemi Awoyinka, a native and citizen of Nigeria,
petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration
Appeals (“Board”) affirming the immigration judge’s order of
removal. Because the Board affirmed the immigration judge’s order
without opinion, we treat the immigration judge’s reasoning as the
final agency determination. 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(e)(4) (2007); Haoua
v. Gonzales,
472 F.3d 227, 231 (4th Cir. 2007).
Awoyinka contends that the immigration judge should have
granted him an adjustment of status because a visa petition for
alien worker had been granted to his employer. However, the
petition was subsequently revoked. To be eligible for adjustment
of status based on employment under 8 U.S.C.A. § 1255 (West 2005 &
Supp. 2007), an alien must apply for adjustment, be eligible to
receive an immigrant visa, and a visa must be immediately
available. Perez-Vargas v. Gonzales,
478 F.3d 191, 192 (4th Cir.
2007). It is uncontroverted that here, a visa is not immediately
available. Therefore, the immigration judge did not err in denying
Awoyinka adjustment of status.
Awoyinka also asserts that the immigration judge erred in
denying his final motion for a continuance. An immigration judge
“may grant a continuance for good cause shown.” 8 C.F.R. § 1003.29
(2007). We review the denial of a motion for a continuance for
abuse of discretion. Lendo v. Gonzales,
493 F.3d 439, 441 (4th
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Cir. 2007); Onyeme v. INS,
146 F.3d 227, 231 (4th Cir. 1998). We
“must uphold the immigration judge’s denial of a continuance
‘unless it was made without a rational explanation, it inexplicably
departed from established policies, or it rested on an
impermissible basis, e.g., invidious discrimination against a
particular race or group.’” Lendo, 493 F.3d at 441 (quoting
Onyeme, 146 F.3d at 231).
Here, the immigration judge granted a continuance of five
months in order to allow Awoyinka to seek reconsideration of the
denial of the visa petition. When the immigration judge found no
progress on that issue at the next hearing, he concluded that
Awoyinka was ineligible for relief from removal, denied voluntary
departure, and ordered Awoyinka removed. (JA 10-14). Because the
immigration judge gave a rational explanation for his denial of a
continuance, and did not rest his decision on an impermissible
basis, this claim entitles Awoyinka to no relief.
Accordingly, we deny the petition for review. We
dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions
are adequately presented in the materials before the court and
argument would not aid the decisional process.
PETITION DENIED
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