Ming Chung Chen v. Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Ming Chung Chen, through counsel, petitions for review of the BIA’s order denying his motion to reopen his final removal order. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history.
This court reviews the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen or reconsider for abuse of discretion. See Kaur v. BIA, 413 F.3d 232, 233 (2d Cir. 2005) (per curiam). An abuse of discretion may be found where the BIA’s decision “provides no rational explanation, inexplicably departs from established policies, is devoid of any reasoning, or contains only summary or conclusory statements; that is to say, where the Board has acted in an arbitrary or capricious manner.” Id. at 233-34 (citing Ke Zhen Zhao v. United States Dep’t of Justice, 265 F.3d 83, 93 (2d Cir. 2001)).
Pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(2), a motion to reopen must generally be filed no later than 90 days after the date on which the final administrative decision was rendered in the proceedings sought to be reopened. This time period may be equitably tolled if there is a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. See Iavorski v. INS, 232 F.3d 124, 127 (2d Cir. 2000). However, “[f]or an untimely claim to receive the benefit of equitable tolling ... an alien must demonstrate not only that the alien’s constitutional right to due process has been violated by the conduct of counsel ] but that the alien has exercised due diligence in pursuing the case during the period the alien seeks to toll.” Id. at 135.
The BIA denied Chen’s motion to reopen because it was filed out of time and, despite the fact that Chen claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, he failed to explain why the motion was filed late. This was not an abuse of discretion. Chen offered no explanation in his appeal for why the motion was filed late, and further, in his brief to this court, Chen does not show
. The correct date of filing is May 22, 2003.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MING CHUNG CHEN v. BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES
- Status
- Published