Ortiz

MEMORANDUM ***

Teodoso Ortiz (“Petitioner”) petitions for review of the final order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the “Board”) affirming Immigration Judge Robert J. Barrett’s order denying his motion to reopen his deportation proceedings for relief under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997 (“NACARA”). Judge Barrett found that Petitioner’s deportation order, which had been issued in absentia when he failed to attend his deportation hearing in 1994, was proper because Petitioner had actual notice of the hearing and had been advised — both orally and in writing — of the hearing’s location, date, and time. Petitioner did not put forth any justification amounting to “exceptional circumstances” to explain his absence at the hearing. Furthermore, the application to reopen was untimely as it was filed more than eight years after he was ordered deported and four years after the statutory deadline for seeking relief under the NACARA, the alleged basis for relief. Because we find Petitioner’s claims to be wholly without merit, the petition is denied. Judge Barrett discussed the facts in his decision dated November 14, 2002, and therefore we do not…