Lucia Osorio De Cordova v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

In these consolidated petitions for review, Gildardo Vazquez-Mendez, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) orders dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s order denying his motion to reopen removal proceedings conducted in absentia, and denying his subsequent motion to reopen. 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 constitutional claims. Hernandez-Velasquez v. Holder, 611 F.3d 1073, 1077 (9th Cir. 2010). We deny the petitions for review.

The agency did not abuse its discretion in denying Vazquez-Mendez’s first motion to reopen his in absentia removal order, where written notice of the hearing was served on his attorney of record. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.23 (b)(4)(iii)(A)(2); 8 C.F.R. § 1292.5 (a) (permitting notice on alien’s attorney of record); Garcia v. INS, 222 F.3d 1208, 1209 (9th Cir. 2000) (notice to the attorney of record constitutes notice to the alien).

The BIA did not abuse its discretion or violate due process in denying Vazquez-Mendez’s second motion to reopen, based on ineffective assistance of…