Mata v. Holder
Apr 29, 2015OUTCOME: The Fifth Circuit erred in declining to take jurisdiction over Mata’s appeal.
After petitioner, an unlawful resident alien, was convicted of assault in a Texas court, an Immigration Judge ordered him removed to Mexico. Mata’s attorney filed a notice of appeal with the Board of I ... mmigration Appeals (BIA), but never filed a brief, and the appeal was dismissed. Acting through different counsel, Mata filed a motion to reopen his removal proceedings. Acknowledging that he had missed the 90-day deadline for such motions, Mata argued that his previous counsel’s ineffective assistance was an exceptional circumstance entitling him to equitable tolling of the time limit. But the BIA disagreed and dismissed the motion as untimely. The BIA also declined to reopen Mata’s removal proceedings sua sponte based on its separate regulatory authorit. On appeal, the Fifth Circuit construed Mata’s equitable tolling claim as an invitation for the BIA to exercise its regulatory authority to reopen the proceedings sua sponte, and—because circuit precedent forbids the court to review BIA decisions not to exercise that authority—dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
