Marcelina Quintanilla Centeno v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Marcelina Quintanilla Centeno, a native and citizen of Nicaragua, challenges the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) denial of her request for a remand so that the immigration judge (“IJ”) may conduct an inquiry into her competency. Our review is for abuse of discretion, see Garcia-Quintero v. Gonzales, 455 F.3d 1006, 1011 (9th Cir.2006), and 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (a) grants us jurisdiction.

On May 4, 2011 — six days before Quintanilla Centeno’s removal hearing-the BIA issued a precedential opinion outlining the framework for IJs to use when faced with a noncitizen showing some “indicia of incompetency.” See In re M-A-M-, 25 I. & N. Dec. 474 (B.I.A.2011). In short, under In re M-A-M-, although noncitizens are “presumed”, competent, id. at 477 , steps must be taken to protect those who “lack sufficient competency to meaningfully participate in proceedings,” id. at 482 . Quintanilla Centeno argues that, because she presented “indicia of incompetency,” the BIA abused its discretion by not granting a remand for the IJ to conduct the required competency inquiry. We agree.

In spite of some indications that Quintanilla Centeno was suffering from severe depression and may have…