Opinion
No. 12-73173
11-25-2015
GUILLERMO ANTONIO CORTES FERNANDEZ, AKA Guerno Hernandez Cortes, Petitioner, v. LORETTA E. LYNCH, Attorney General, Respondent.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
Agency No. A094-450-965 MEMORANDUM On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Before: TASHIMA, OWENS, and FRIEDLAND, Circuit Judges.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Guillermo Antonio Cortes Fernandez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' ("BIA") order denying his motion to reopen based on ineffective assistance of prior counsel. We review for abuse of discretion the BIA's denial of a motion to reopen, and we review de novo questions of law and constitutional claims. Singh v. Ashcroft, 367 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th Cir. 2004). We deny in part, and dismiss in part, the petition for review.
The BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Cortes Fernandez's motion to reopen for failure to establish prejudice from his former attorney. See Rojas-Garcia v. Ashcroft, 339 F.3d 814, 826 (9th Cir. 2003) (requiring prejudice to state valid claim of ineffective assistance of counsel). Cortes Fernandez's contention that his former counsel deprived him of an opportunity to challenge the agency's denial of his application for relief before this court failed to describe a colorable challenge to the agency's decision that would establish "plausible grounds for relief." Id. (presumption of prejudice rebutted when petitioners do not show plausible grounds for relief).
We lack jurisdiction to consider Cortes Fernandez's unexhausted contention regarding the IJ's purported excessive reliance on charging documents. See Tijani v. Holder, 628 F.3d 1071, 1080 (9th Cir. 2010).
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED in part; DISMISSED in part.