Background
Rafael Rodriguez Zaragoza, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision denying his appeal from an Immigration Judge’s denial of his application for cancellation of removal. The petitioner raised issues regarding a defective Notice to Appear, the agency’s failure to consider eligibility requirements, ineffective assistance of counsel, and the grant of voluntary departure.
The court’s reasoning
The court determined that while the initial Notice to Appear was statutorily defective, the petitioner failed to exhaust this non-jurisdictional claim. Regarding cancellation of removal, the court found the petitioner failed to prove the required exceptional and extremely unusual hardship, as financial hardship alone does not deviate in the extreme from the norm. The court further held it lacks jurisdiction to review the agency’s discretionary denial of relief or the grant of voluntary departure. Finally, the ineffective assistance of counsel claim was dismissed because the petitioner did not raise it before the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the record did not show the counsel’s performance was plainly ineffective on its face.
What it means going forward
The dismissal lifts the temporary stay of removal and denies the petitioner’s motion for a stay, leaving the removal order in effect.