Erazo-Artica
Erazo-Artica v. Ashcroft
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Carlos Roberto Erazo-Artica, a native and citizen of Honduras, petitions pro se for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his motion for administrative closure of removal proceedings pending adjudication of his application for Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review de novo questions of law and due process claims, Rodriguez-Lariz v. INS, 282 F.3d 1218, 1222 (9th Cir.2002), and we deny the petition for review.
The BIA correctly determined that, because the Immigration and Naturalization Service objected to Erazo-Artica’s motion for administrative closure of the removal proceedings, the IJ lacked discretion to grant the motion. See Matter of Gutierrez-Lopez, 21 I & N Dec. 479, 480 , 1996 WL 413581 (BIA 1996) (“A case may not be administratively closed if opposed by either of the parties.”).
Erazo-Artica further contends that his pending application for TPS deprived *163 the IJ jurisdiction over the removal proceedings. We disagree. Nothing in the statute or regulations governing TPS precludes the initiation of a removal proceeding while an…