Gomez

MEMORANDUM ***

Rocael Mendoza Gomez, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions pro se for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision summarily affirming the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his request for a continuance and denial of his application for cancellation of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We liberally construe the contentions raised on appeal because Mendoza-Gomez is proceeding pro se. See Agyeman v. INS, 296 F.3d 871, 878 (9th Cir.2002). We review the IJ’s denial of a request for a continuance for an abuse of discretion. Baires v. INS, 856 F.2d 89, 91 (9th Cir.1988); Gonzalez v. INS, 82 F.3d 903, 907 (9th Cir. 1996). We grant the petition for review.

Gomez requested a continuance of one week to prepare and file his application for cancellation of removal. The IJ abused its discretion by denying the continuance due to lack of diligence. See Baires, 856 F.2d at 91 (holding that an IJ must consider factors several factors when adjudicating a request for a continuance). The court may have been inconvenienced by the request, but none of the evidence Gomez wanted to submit at the continued hearing was “immaterial, unimportant, or…