Ara Hovanesyan v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Ara Hovanesyan, a native and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) decision (1) affirming the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture, and (2) denying his motion to remand. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 , and we deny the petition.

1. Reviewing the BIA’s decision de novo, we conclude that Petitioner was not deprived of his right to a full and fair hearing by the IJ’s failure to recuse herself. See Vargas-Hernandez v. Gonzales, 497 F.3d 919, 921, 925 (9th Cir.2007). The IJ’s request for the alien number of Petitioner’s expert witness did not evidence “a personal ... bias stemming from an ‘extrajudicial’ source which resulted in an opinion on the merits on some basis other than what the immigration judge learned from [her] participation in the case.” Id. at 925 (internal quotation marks omitted). Nor did the IJ’s demeanor toward the witness reveal “deep-seated ... antagonism” against Petitioner. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

2. The IJ did not abuse her discretion in refusing to continue Petitioner’s hearing to permit him to file an…