Alberto Gonzalez-Mendez v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Alberto Gonzalez-Mendez, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision finding him removable on the basis of a controlled substance conviction, as well as the BIA’s order denying his subsequent motion to reopen. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review de novo questions of law, Cazarez-Gutierrez v. Ashcroft, 382 F.3d 905, 909 (9th Cir.2004), and review for abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to reopen, Iturribarria v. INS, 321 F.3d 889, 894 (9th Cir.2003). We deny the petitions for review.

Gonzalez-Mendez first contends that the BIA failed to address his argument that the IJ erred in denying his prehearing motion to close the record. Although Gonzalez-Mendez properly raised this issue in his appeal to the BIA, the BIA did not address it. We conclude, however, that any error on the part of the BIA was harmless. Notably, Gonzalez-Mendez does not argue that the government’s alleged delay in submitting evidence of his conviction record to the IJ prejudiced his ability to respond to such evidence. See Larita-Martinez v. INS, 220…