Garcia-Cortez

The petitioners, José Garcia-Cortez and Alicia Chavarin-Carrillo, challenge the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) summary dismissal of their appeal of a final order of removal for failure to timely file their brief, along with the BIA’s denial of their subsequent motion for reconsideration. Garcia and Chavarin contend that their Notice of Appeal (Form EOIR-26) provided the BIA with adequate notice of the specific grounds for their appeal and that, consequently, the BIA improperly dismissed their appeal summarily for failure to timely file a brief.

We exercise jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We hold that it was not appropriate for the BIA to summarily dismiss this appeal for failure to timely file a brief, because the petitioners set forth sufficiently detailed reasons in support of their appeal on them Notice of Appeal. We remand to the BIA for consideration of the merits of the petitioners’ claims.

FACTS

José Garcia-Cortez and Alicia Chavarin-Carrillo each entered the United States from Mexico. They met and married in America and now have three children who are U.S. citizens. On May 16, 1997, the INS issued Notices to Appear charging that Garcia and Chavarin were…