Araiza Flores v. Holder

MEMORANDUM *

Zeferino Araiza Flores (“Araiza Flores”), a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision dismissing and denying his motion to reopen upon remand from our court. We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen for abuse of discretion. Perez v. Mukasey, 516 F.3d 770, 773 (9th Cir.2008). We will reverse the agency’s denial of a motion to reopen if it is “arbitrary, irrational, or contrary to law.” Id. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 .

The BIA abused its discretion when it denied Araiza Flores’s motion to reopen because its stated basis for the denial— that it was barred from considering the merits of Araiza Flores’s motion to reopen because he did not voluntarily leave the United States within thirty days of the BIA’s voluntary departure order issued on April 17, 2002 — was legally insufficient. In its decision on June 13, 2005, the BIA correctly stated that the voluntary departure time runs from the date of the Immigration Judge’s or BIA’s voluntary departure order, citing Zazueta-Carrillo v. Ashcroft, 322 F.3d 1166 (9th Cir.2003), but the BIA did not analyze Araiza Flores’s voluntary…