Chowdhury v. Holder
Chowdhury v. Holder
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Petitioner Golam Rabbee Chowdhury, a native and citizen of Bangladesh, seeks review of the September 24, 2007 order of the BIA denying his motion to reopen. In re Golam Rabbee Chowdhury, No. A70 529 229 (B.I.A. Sept. 24, 2007). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history of the case.
We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen 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 BIA has acted in an arbitrary or capricious manner.” Ke Zhen Zhao v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 265 F.3d 83, 93 (2d Cir. 2001) (internal citations omitted). In reviewing'the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen, we remain mindful of the Supreme Court’s admonition that motions to reopen are “disfavored.” See Maghradze v. Gonzales, 462 F.3d 150, 154 (2d Cir. 2006) (citing INS v. Abudu, 485 U.S. 94, 107, 108 S.Ct. 904, 99 L.Ed.2d 90 (1988)).
It is undisputed that Chowdhury’s May 2007 motion to reopen was the third such motion he filed with the agency. Moreover, the instant motion was filed over two years after the previous BIA decision, the March 2005 decision denying his second motion to reopen, and nearly nine years after he withdrew his original asylum application and accepted voluntary departure in July 1998. Therefore, the BIA properly observed that Chowdhury’s motion was barred by the time and numerical restrictions applied to motions to reopen, unless he established that he was newly eligible for asylum based on changed circumstances arising in Bangladesh. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2(c)(3)(ii).
We find that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the evidence Chowdhury submitted did not establish that he might face harm in Bangladesh based on his relationship to his brother Riad. See Kaur, 413 F.3d at 233-34. Even assuming the truth of the allegations contained in the evidence he submitted, there was no error in the BIA’s conclusion that the fact that his brother Neaz was harmed did not establish that Chowdhury was pri-
For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is DENIED.
. While the BIA did not explicitly use the term "prima facie," we find no merit in Chowdhury’s argument that the BIA employed an improper standard.
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