Filed: Apr. 11, 2019
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _ No. 18-2301 _ FRANCISCO BARILLAS; BLANCA AMANDA BARILLAS, Petitioners v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent _ On Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA-1: A070-582-696 & A070-582-697) _ Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) April 2, 2019 Before: CHAGARES, HARDIMAN, and SILER, JR. * Circuit Judges. (Filed: April 11, 2019) * Honorable Eugene Edward Siler, Jr.
Summary: NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _ No. 18-2301 _ FRANCISCO BARILLAS; BLANCA AMANDA BARILLAS, Petitioners v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent _ On Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA-1: A070-582-696 & A070-582-697) _ Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) April 2, 2019 Before: CHAGARES, HARDIMAN, and SILER, JR. * Circuit Judges. (Filed: April 11, 2019) * Honorable Eugene Edward Siler, Jr.,..
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
____________
No. 18-2301
____________
FRANCISCO BARILLAS;
BLANCA AMANDA BARILLAS,
Petitioners
v.
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Respondent
____________
On Petition for Review of a
Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals
(BIA-1: A070-582-696 & A070-582-697)
____________
Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a)
April 2, 2019
Before: CHAGARES, HARDIMAN, and SILER, JR. * Circuit Judges.
(Filed: April 11, 2019)
*
Honorable Eugene Edward Siler, Jr., Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation.
____________
OPINION **
____________
HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.
Francisco and Blanca Amanda Barillas seek review of an order of the Board of
Immigration Appeals denying their untimely and number-barred motion to reopen.
Because the Barillas did not establish materially changed conditions in their home
country of Guatemala, we will deny their petition.
We have jurisdiction to consider this petition for review under 8 U.S.C.
§ 1252(a)(1). See Fei Yan Zhu v. Att’y Gen.,
744 F.3d 268, 271 (3d Cir. 2014). Motions
to reopen are disfavored and will be “granted only under compelling circumstances.” Guo
v. Ashcroft,
386 F.3d 556, 561 (3d Cir. 2004), as amended (Dec. 3, 2004). Petitioners
may file only one motion to reopen, 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(A), and they must do so
“within 90 days of the date of entry of a final administrative order of removal.”
Id.
§ 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i). Those time and number requirements do not apply, however, if
petitioners can show materially changed circumstances in their country of nationality and
prima facie eligibility for relief. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2); Shardar v. Att’y Gen.,
503
F.3d 308, 313 (3d Cir. 2007).
In their petition, the Barillas make only one argument about materially changed
circumstances in Guatemala. They contend that the BIA failed to define a “material”
**
This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7
does not constitute binding precedent.
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change in country conditions under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(3)(ii). And they criticize the
BIA for offering “no legal standard” for “what constitutes a sufficient change in country
conditions or a meaningful comparison between those conditions.” Barillas Br. 11–12;
see Reply Br. 3–5. The upshot is that the BIA violated their procedural due process
rights.
We disagree. To satisfy due process, the BIA need only show that it made an
“individualized determination” about the Barillas’ case. Kamara v. Att’y Gen.,
420 F.3d
202, 211 (3d Cir. 2005) (quoting Abdulai v. Ashcroft,
239 F.3d 542, 550 (3d Cir. 2001)).
In Kamara, we upheld a BIA decision when the Board described the petition for relief,
procedural posture of the case, relevant statutes and regulations, and basis for the
immigration judge’s decision. See
id. at 212.
The same is true here. The BIA detailed the Barillas’ claim that Guatemalan gangs
and drug cartels have become more dangerous. It outlined the case’s procedural history.
It cited the statutes and regulations governing changes in country conditions (and motions
to reopen more generally). And after summarizing the evidence, the BIA concluded the
Barillas had offered “no meaningful comparison between the current country conditions
and those at the time of their previous hearing.” A.R. 4.
Our review of the record supports the BIA’s conclusion. A determination of
whether country conditions have changed necessarily involves a comparison between
current conditions and those existing at the time of the merits hearing before the
Immigration Judge. See Fei Yan
Zhu, 744 F.3d at 278. In this case, that means comparing
Guatemala’s conditions in 2000 with those in 2018. A.R. 3, 512. But as the BIA noted,
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nothing submitted by the Barillas makes this comparison. At most, the record includes
allegations of increased violence from 2009 to 2017, A.R. 83–84, and the tabling of an
anti-disappearance law from 2006 to 2016, A.R. 116. These allegations, while serious, do
nothing to compare “current country conditions and those at the time of [the Barillas’]
previous hearing.” A.R. 4. We thus have “sufficient indicia” that the BIA made an
individualized determination of the Barillas’ case and gave them all the process they were
due.
Kamara, 420 F.3d at 211 (quoting
Abdulai, 239 F.3d at 550).
Having found no error in the BIA’s determination that the Barillas failed to show
changed circumstances in Guatemala, we have no need to consider their arguments
regarding their prima facie eligibility for asylum, withholding of removal, or relief under
the Convention Against Torture.
We will deny the petition for review.
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