Rochel-Romero

MEMORANDUM **

Petitioner Jorge Rochel-Romero, a citizen and native of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order denying his motion to reopen removal proceedings. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 and deny the petition.

Denial of a motion to reopen deportation proceedings is reviewed for abuse of discretion. See Singh v. INS, 213 F.3d 1050, 1052 (9th Cir.2000). RochelRomero no longer challenges the BIA’s denial of his motion to reopen on the ground of new evidence. Instead, he now argues that remand is appropriate because the BIA misapplied 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2 in denying his motion to reopen. Such a legal argument should be presented to the BIA in the form of a motion to reconsider, not in a motion to reopen. A motion to reopen should be based upon alleged new facts that bear upon the agency’s earlier decision. See Ghahremani v. Gonzales, 498 F.3d 993 , 997 n. 1 (9th Cir.2007) (citing 8 C.F.R. § 1003.2 (b)(1), (c)(1)). The BIA did not abuse its discretion when it refused to grant the motion to reopen to consider Rochel-Romero’s legal argument. See Membreno v. Gonzales, 425 F.3d 1227, 1229-30 (9th Cir.2005) (en banc). Also, we cannot construe…