Jose Arredondo v. Loretta Lynch

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: A076-475-494 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999814550].. [15-2328]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-2328

JOSE RAUL VALERO ARREDONDO, a/k/a Jose Raul Arredondo,
Petitioner,
v.
LORETTA E. LYNCH, Attorney General,
Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration
Appeals.

Submitted:

April 19, 2016

Before WYNN and
Circuit Judge.

KING,

Circuit

Decided:

Judges,

and

May 6, 2016

HAMILTON,

Senior

Petition dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Japheth N. Matemu, MATEMU LAW OFFICE P.C., Raleigh, North
Carolina, for Petitioner.
Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy
Assistant
Attorney
General,
Song
Park,
Senior
Litigation
Counsel, Surell Brady, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED
STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Jose Raul Valero Arredondo, a native and citizen of Mexico,
petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration
Appeals (“Board”) denying his motion to reopen.

For the reasons

set forth below, we dismiss the petition for review.
Under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) (2012), entitled “Denials
of discretionary relief,” “no court shall have jurisdiction to
review

any

section

.

judgment
.

.

regarding

1229b,”

cancellation of removal.
124-25

(4th

Cir.

discretionary

2011)

denial

the

which

granting
is

the

of

relief

section

under

governing

See Sorcia v. Holder, 643 F.3d 117,
(finding

of

no

jurisdiction

cancellation

of

constitutional claim or question of law).

to

removal

review
absent

Whether the alien has

established the requisite hardship for cancellation of removal
is

a

discretionary

determination.

See

Romero-Torres

v.

Ashcroft, 327 F.3d 887, 888 (9th Cir. 2003) (“[A]n ‘exceptional
and extremely unusual hardship’ determination is a subjective,
discretionary judgment that has been carved out of our appellate
jurisdiction.”); see also Munis v. Holder, 720 F.3d 1293, 1295
(10th

Cir.

2013)

(hardship

discretionary decision).

determination

is

an

unreviewable

Indeed, we have concluded that the

issue of hardship is committed to agency discretion and thus is
not subject to appellate review.
(4th Cir. 2001).
2

Okpa v. INS, 266 F.3d 313, 317

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The fact that Arredondo is seeking review of the Board’s
denial of his motion to reopen, as opposed to the initial denial
of

his

request

consequence.
Board’s

for

cancellation

of

removal,

of

Arredondo’s

motion

to

reopen,

consider the [Board]’s basis for the denial.”

on

of

no

To determine whether we have jurisdiction over the

denial

at 126.

is

“we

must

Sorcia, 643 F.3d

Where “the [Board] ma[k]e[s] a discretionary decision

the

merits

of

an

enumerated

provision

[of

§ 1252(a)(2)(B)(i)], the fact that it d[oes] so through denying
a

motion

to

reopen

d[oes]

not

save

appellate

jurisdiction.”

Obioha v. Gonzales, 431 F.3d 400, 407 (4th Cir. 2005); accord
Alzainati
(“Because

v.

Holder,

568

F.3d

§ 1252(a)(2)(B)(I)

844,

849

precludes

(10th

our

Cir.

review

2009)
of

an

‘exceptional and extremely unusual hardship’ determination under
§ 1229b(b)(1)(D), it also precludes our jurisdiction to review
the [Board’s] denial of a motion to reopen because the alien
still has failed to show the requisite hardship.”).
Here,

Arredondo

submitted

additional

evidence

with

his

motion to reopen, including evidence of his father’s declining
health.

The

Board

concluded

that

this

new

evidence,

when

considered with Arredondo’s other evidence, did not establish
the requisite hardship.

Because the Board clearly concluded

that Arredondo still failed to meet his burden of demonstrating
that his father would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual
3

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hardship

if

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Arredondo

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returns

to

Mexico,

we

find

ourselves

without jurisdiction.
Accordingly,
dispense

with

contentions

are

we

oral

dismiss
argument

adequately

the

petition

because

presented

in

for

the
the

review. *

facts

We

and

legal

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

PETITION DISMISSED

*

We note that Arredondo raises no colorable questions of
law or constitutional claims that fall within the exception set
forth in 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D) (2012).

4