Aqueh Pardae v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Aqueh Pardae, a native and citizen of Liberia, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decisions affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) and denying his motion for reconsideration. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 .

Pardae argues that the IJ denied him his right to due process by advising him of the incorrect legal standard and misleading him as to the proof necessary to establish his claim for relief under CAT. The government contends that we lack jurisdiction over this claim because petitioner failed to raise it before the BIA. It is wrong.

We recently addressed the exhaustion of procedural due process claims raised by pro se petitioners before the BIA in Pagayon v. Holder, 642 F.3d 1226 (9th Cir.2011). In Pagayon , the petitioner claimed in his notice of appeal to the BIA that the IJ “denied [him] of a full and fair hearing in violation of due process of law.” Id. at 1232 . We found that this was sufficient to exhaust a claim that “the IJ violated [the petitioner’s] due-process rights by not allowing him time to submit a letter recapitulating his…