MEMORANDUM **

Rene Dimas Salazar, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s decision denying his motion to reopen removal proceedings conducted in ab-sentia. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to reopen, Perez v. Mukasey, 516 F.3d 770, 773 (9th Cir. 2008), and we deny the petition for review.

The agency was within its discretion in denying Salazar’s motion to reopen on the grounds that he failed to appear at his hearing and did not establish that “exceptional circumstances” had caused his absence. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(e)(1); Valencia-Fragoso v. INS, 321 F.3d 1204, 1205-06 (9th Cir. 2003); cf. Perez, 516 F.3d at 773-75 (no failure to appear where IJ had not yet left the courtroom after the scheduled hearing).

PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.