Alvarez

MEMORANDUM *

Nery Alvarez, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) decision denying his application for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . We review de novo questions of law and claims of due process violations, Vasquez-Zavala v. Ashcroft, 324 F.3d 1105, 1107 (9th Cir.2003), and review for abuse of discretion the IJ’s decision not to continue a hearing, Biwot v. Gonzales, 403 F.3d 1094, 1099 (9th Cir.2005). When the BIA conducts an independent review of the IJ’s findings, as it did here, we review the BIA’s decision and not that of the IJ. Simeonov v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 532, 535 (9th Cir.2004).

In analyzing the IJ’s decision, the BIA predicated its decision on an erroneous factual assumption, namely that “the Order to Show Cause was served on the respondent in 1996, [but] more than six years later he still had not obtained counsel.” This is inaccurate. The record clearly shows that Alvarez had an attorney of record for six years. However, the attorney filed a motion to withdraw one month before the…