Najmabadi
Najmabadi v. Holder
Opinion
lead Opinion
Smith, J.
Opinion by Judge MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Dissent by Judge HARRY PREGERSON.
Petitioner, Farangis Najmabadi, a native and citizen of Iran, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’s (BIA or Board) order denying her motion to reopen her removal proceedings on the basis of changed conditions in Iran. Because we hold that Najmabadi failed to introduce previously unavailable, material evidence, we deny her petition for review.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Najmabadi was admitted to the United States on October 5, 1986, as a non-immigrant visitor with authorization to remain in the United States until April 5, 1987. On October 27, 1998, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service filed a notice to appear with the immigration court charging Najmabadi with removability. *985 Najmabadi filed an asylum application on November 18,1998.
On April 11, 2000, an Immigration Judge (IJ) conducted a removal proceeding, at which Najmabadi claimed that she left Iran due to its then war with Iraq. She stated that “there wasn’t any particular reason” that she left Iran but rather “[everything changed, especially for a woman like me.” Asked why she did not want to return to…
dissent Opinion
Pregerson, J.
dissenting:
Farangis Najmabadi is a sixty-year-old native and citizen of Iran. She has lived in the United States since April 5, 1987. In those twenty-three years, she studied fashion design, established a dress-making business, and now designs Western style clothing for Iranian women.
In March 1998, the former INS initiated removal proceedings against Najmabadi for overstaying her tourist visa. Najmabadi appeared before an IJ without counsel. She applied for asylum, withholding, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. On April 11, 2000, the IJ denied Najmabadi’s asylum claim. The IJ found Najmabadi credible, but concluded that she lacked a well-founded fear of future persecution based on the record at that time.
On July 20, 2001, Najmabadi appealed the IJ’s denial to the BIA, this time with the assistance of counsel. On February 25, 2003, the BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision without opinion. On August 18, 2004, this Court denied Najmabadi’s petition for review. Najmabadi v. Ashcroft, 107 Fed.Appx. 98 (9th Cir.2004).
On December 14, 2004, Najmabadi filed a motion to reopen with the BIA based on the changed circumstances in Iran following September 11, 2001. On March 31,…
Opinion
Before: HARRY PREGERSON, JAY S. BYBEE and MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Circuit Judges.
Opinion by Judge MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Dissent by Judge HARRY PREGERSON.
MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Circuit Judge:
Petitioner, Farangis Najmabadi, a native and citizen of Iran, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals's (BIA or Board) order denying her motion to reopen her removal proceedings on the basis of changed conditions in Iran. Because we hold that Najmabadi failed to introduce previously unavailable, material evidence, we deny her petition for review.
Najmabadi was admitted to the United States on October 5, 1986, as a non-immigrant visitor with authorization to remain in the United States until April 5, 1987. On October 27, 1998, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service filed a notice to appear with the immigration court charging Najmabadi with removability. Najmabadi filed an asylum application on November 18, 1998.
On April 11, 2000, an Immigration Judge (IJ) conducted a removal proceeding, at which Najmabadi claimed that she left Iran due to its then war with Iraq. She stated that "there wasn't any particular reason" that she left Iran but rather "[e]verything…