Taldybek Usubakunov v. Merrick Garland

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

TALDYBEK USUBAKUNOV, No. 18-72974 Petitioner, Agency No. v. A216-266-602

MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, OPINION Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals

Argued and Submitted March 8, 2021 San Francisco, California

Filed November 1, 2021

Before: M. Margaret McKeown and Sandra S. Ikuta, Circuit Judges, and Joan N. Ericksen, * District Judge.

Opinion by Judge McKeown; Dissent by Judge Ikuta

* The Honorable Joan N. Ericksen, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota, sitting by designation. SUMMARY **

Immigration

Granting Taldybek Usubakunov’s petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals, and remanding, the panel held that an immigration judge’s refusal to grant a continuance of Usubakunov’s merits hearing deprived him of his right to counsel.

Applying a fact-based inquiry, the panel concluded that under the unique circumstances presented, the IJ’s denial of a continuance of Usubakunov’s merits…