Mendoza Ramirez v. Holder

MEMORANDUM **

1. This court lacks jurisdiction to review the Board of Immigration Appeals (“Board”)’s affirmance of the Immigration Judge’s denial of the petitioners’ request for administrative closure. Diaz-Covarrubias v. Mukasey, 551 F.3d 1114, 1120 (9th Cir.2009) (citing Ekimian v. INS, 303 F.3d 1153, 1159 (9th Cir.2002)). As this court has stated, under such “administrative closure,” an immigration judge or the Board “removes a case from its docket as a matter of ‘administrative convenience.’ ” Id. at 1116 (citing In re Gutierrez-Lopez, 21 I. & N. Dec. 479, 480 (BIA 1996)). The Board has stated that it will grant such closure only if both parties agree to it. In re Gutierrez-Lopez, 211. & N. Dec. at 480. The Immigration Judge denied administrative closure because the government refused to agree to it.

2. The Immigration Judge’s decision whether to grant a continuance is a matter within his discretion, and he did not abuse that discretion by denying a continuance here. An immigration judge may grant a continuance “for good cause shown.” 8 C.F.R. § 1003.29 ; accord Baires v. INS, 856 F.2d 89, 91 (9th Cir. 1988). At the time the continuance was requested, the petitioners had…