Maria Castillo v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Maria Esther Castillo, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order denying her motion to reopen removal proceedings. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review for abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to reopen, and review de novo questions of law. Mohammed v. Gonzales, 400 F.3d 785, 791-92 (9th Cir.2005). We deny the petition for review.

The BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Castillo’s motion to reopen as to ineffective assistance of counsel where Castillo failed to establish prejudice arising from any alleged ineffective assistance by her former representatives. See id. at 793-94 (“[Prejudice results when the performance of counsel was so inadequate that it may have affected the outcome of the proceedings.” (emphasis in original) (internal quotation marks omitted)).

The BIA also did not abuse its discretion in denying as untimely Castillo’s motion to reopen as to changed country conditions where the motion was filed more than two years after her removal order became final, see 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2 (c)(2), and the BIA acted within its broad discretion in determining that the…