De Zevallos v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

MEMORANDUM ***

Lucrecia Blanc Ramos-Chamana De Zevallos, a native and citizen of Peru, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision denying her motion to remand and affirming an Immigration Judge’s denial of her motion to reopen after she was denied asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 and we deny the petition.

We review rulings denying motions to reopen and remand for abuse of discretion and will not reverse such rulings unless the BIA acted arbitrarily, irrationally, or contrary to the law. Konstantinova v. INS, 195 F.3d 528, 529 (9th Cir.1999); Lainez-Ortiz v. INS, 96 F.3d 393, 395 (9th Cir.1996). To prevail on a motion to reopen, Petitioner must demonstrate that the evidence she seeks to introduce was not available and could not have been discovered or presented at the initial evidentiary hearing. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2 (c)(1); Bolshakov v. INS, 133 F.3d 1279, 1282 (9th Cir.1998). In her motion to reopen, Petitioner did not explain why the new evidence was previously unavailable, she simply stated she was unable to obtain this statement prior to the immigration judge’s hearing. Therefore, the BIA was within its…