Pedro Juarez-Lorenzo v. Eric Holder, Jr.
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Pedro Juarez-Lorenzo, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s denial of his motion to reopen removal proceedings conducted in absentia. Our jurisdiction is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to reopen. Mohammed v. Gonzales, 400 F.3d 785, 791 (9th Cir.2005). We deny in part and dismiss in part the petition for review.
The agency did not abuse its discretion by denying Juarez-Lorenzo’s motion to reopen where he failed to establish that exceptional circumstances excused his failure to appear at his hearing. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(e)(l) (defining exceptional circumstances as circumstances beyond the control of the alien); Sharma v. INS, 89 F.3d 545, 547 (9th Cir.1996) (traffic congestion and parking difficulties insufficient to require reopening); see also Valencia-Fragoso v. INS, 321 F.3d 1204, 1205-06 (9th Cir.2003) (per curiam) (considering that only possible relief was discretionary grant of voluntary departure as factor in exceptional circumstances determination).