Torres v. Mukasey
Torres v. Mukasey
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Petitioner Ronette Antonette Torres (“Petitioner” or “Torres”) petitions this Court for review of the BIA’s denial of her August 2006 motion to reopen immigration proceedings. In re Torres, No. A74 912 359 (B.I.A. Mar. 1, 2007). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history in this case.
Torres filed this motion to reopen, based on the ineffective assistance of her counsel, Jose DelCastillo,
As Torres has failed to address the BIA’s determination on due diligence, Torres has waived any challenge she may have had to the BIA’s finding. See Tolbert v. Queens College, 242 F.3d 58, 75 (2d Cir. 2001) (“It is a settled appellate rule that issues adverted to in a perfunctory manner, unaccompanied by some effort at developed argumentation, are deemed waived.” (internal citations and quotation marks omitted)). We note that, on the merits, there is little evidence Torres pursued her claim with due diligence. Early in 2000, an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) acknowledged that Torres may have received ineffective assistance of counsel and explained to her what she should do to pursue her claim, including meeting the requirements under In re Lozada, 19 I. & N.
We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen for abuse of discretion. Kaur v. BIA, 413 F.3d 232, 233 (2d Cir. 2005) (per curiam). “ ‘An abuse of discretion may be found in those circumstances where the Board’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 (quoting Zhao v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 265 F.3d 83, 93 (2d Cir. 2001)). Given the circumstances of this case, we cannot say that the BIA has acted arbitrarily or capriciously in denying Torres’s claim. We therefore DENY the petition for review.
. Jose DelCastillo is well-known to this Court. See Wilks v. Gonzales, 218 Fed.Appx. 55 (2d Cir. 2007). He has been required, in many recent cases, to establish, as a prerequisite to continued representation, that he has obtained knowing waivers from his clients of the potential conflicts of interest created by his indictments for violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 1001, and 1546.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Ronette Antonette TORRES v. Michael B. MUKASEY
- Status
- Published