Douglas Flores-Gonzalez v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Douglas Flores-Gonzalez petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision denying his untimely motion to reopen based on ineffective assistance of counsel. As the parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recount them here. We grant the petition and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this disposition.

The BIA determined that Flores-Gonzalez was not prejudiced by his former attorneys’ failure to inform him of Special Im~ migrant Juvenile Status (“SIJS”), 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(27)(J), because there was no evidence that Flores-Gonzalez had a qualifying juvenile court order. However, as the government concedes, the BIA did not address Flores-Gonzalez’s argument that his attorneys’ ineffectiveness prevented him from obtaining a juvenile court order required for SUS. The government argues that Flores-Gonzalez would not have qualified for such an order because the evidence does not support that he could not be reunited with one or both of his parents as a result of “abuse, neglect, abandonment, or similar basis found under State law.” 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(27)(J); see also 8 C.F.R. § 204.11 . But, “we cannot deny a…