Grigoryan

MEMORANDUM **

Liana Grigoryan and her son, Gegham Melkonyan, natives and citizens of Armenia, petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order sum *660 marily affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying their application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review claims of due process violations in deportation proceedings de novo. Colmenar v. INS, 210 F.3d 967, 971 (9th Cir.2000). We deny the petition for review.

Grigoryan’s sole contention before this court is that the IJ denied her due process by requiring the merits hearing to proceed despite Grigoryan not having counsel present. Contrary to the government’s contention, Grigoryan exhausted this claim before the BIA. See Biwot v. Gonzales, 403 F.3d 1094, 1097-98 (9th Cir.2005).

Grigoryan’s due process claim is in essence a claim that the IJ abused her discretion by not granting a continuance. See De la Cruz v. INS, 951 F.2d 226 , 229 n. 4 (9th Cir.1991) (noting that the petitioner’s argument that he was denied his right to present evidence was “merely another way of stating that…