Background
Oscar Garcia-Islas, a Mexican national, entered the United States without admission in nineteen ninety-six. After a notice to appear in two thousand eleven, an immigration judge ordered his removal in two thousand eighteen, and the Board of Immigration Appeals summarily dismissed his administrative appeal in December two thousand twenty for being untimely. In July two thousand twenty-four, Garcia-Islas moved to reopen the proceedings, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel and urging the Board to exercise sua sponte authority. The Board denied the motion in October two thousand twenty-five, finding the motion untimely and the petitioner lacking due diligence.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviewed the Board’s denial for abuse of discretion and found no error. The opinion explained that a motion to reopen must generally be filed within ninety days of the final administrative order, a deadline subject to equitable tolling only for extraordinary circumstances beyond the movant’s control. While ineffective assistance of counsel can support an equitable tolling claim, the movant must still show reasonable diligence. The court noted that Garcia-Islas was on notice of the dismissal in December two thousand twenty but did not seek relief for three and a half years. The petitioner failed to explain why he waited so long, and the court concluded he did not meet the requirement for reasonable diligence.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces the strict diligence requirement for motions to reopen removal proceedings and limits equitable tolling to rare cases where a petitioner can explain a multi-year delay.