Xiu Zheng v. Eric Holder, Jr. , 548 F. App'x 869 ( 2013 )


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  •                               UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 13-1592
    XIU ZHEN ZHENG, a/k/a Xue Hua Zheng, a/k/a Farzeea Binte
    Abu Bakar Falli,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., Attorney General,
    Respondent.
    On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration
    Appeals.
    Submitted:   December 10, 2013              Decided:   December 17, 2013
    Before KING, SHEDD, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.
    Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Peter L. Quan, LAW OFFICES OF PETER L. QUAN, P.L.L.C., Flushing,
    New York, for Petitioner. Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney
    General, Terri J. Scadron, Assistant Director, Greg D. Mack,
    Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation,
    UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for
    Respondent.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
    PER CURIAM:
    Xiu Zhen Zheng, a native and citizen of the People’s
    Republic of China, petitions for review of an order of the Board
    of Immigration Appeals (“Board”), denying her motion to reopen.
    We deny the petition for review.
    The denial of a motion to reopen is reviewed for abuse
    of discretion.       
    8 C.F.R. § 1003.2
    (a) (2013); Mosere v. Mukasey,
    
    552 F.3d 397
    , 400 (4th Cir. 2009); Jean v. Gonzales, 
    435 F.3d 475
    , 481 (4th Cir. 2006).            The Board’s “denial of a motion to
    reopen is reviewed with extreme deference, given that motions to
    reopen are disfavored because every delay works to the advantage
    of   the    deportable    alien    who   wishes   merely   to   remain     in   the
    United States.”      Sadhvani v. Holder, 
    596 F.3d 180
    , 182 (4th Cir.
    2009) (internal quotation marks omitted).                  The motion “shall
    state the new facts that will be proven at a hearing to be held
    if the motion is granted and shall be supported by affidavits or
    other evidentiary material.”             
    8 C.F.R. § 1003.2
    (c)(1) (2013).
    Further, the motion “shall not be granted unless it appears to
    the Board that evidence sought to be offered is material and was
    not available and could not have been discovered or presented at
    the former hearing.”       
    Id.
    We have also recognized three independent grounds on
    which   a   motion   to   reopen    removal   proceedings       may   be   denied:
    “(1) the alien has not established a prima facie case for the
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    underlying     substantive          relief      sought;      (2)    the     alien       has    not
    introduced         previously        unavailable,           material        evidence;         and
    (3) where      relief       is     discretionary,          the     alien    would       not    be
    entitled to the discretionary grant of relief.”                             Onyeme v. INS,
    
    146 F.3d 227
    , 234 (4th Cir. 1998) (citing INS v. Abudu, 
    485 U.S. 94
    , 104-05 (1988)).               We will reverse the denial of a motion to
    reopen only if it is “‘arbitrary, irrational, or contrary to
    law.’”       Mosere,       
    552 F.3d at 400
       (internal        quotation         marks
    omitted).
    An alien may file one motion to reopen within ninety
    days    of   the    entry     of    a    final      order    of    removal.         8    U.S.C.
    § 1229a(c)(7)(A), (C) (2012); 
    8 C.F.R. § 1003.2
    (c)(2) (2013).
    This time limit does not apply if the basis for the motion is to
    seek asylum or withholding of removal based on changed country
    conditions, “if such evidence is material and was not available
    and would not have been discovered or presented at the previous
    proceeding.”            8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(C)(ii); see also 
    8 C.F.R. § 1003.2
    (c)(3)(ii).
    Zheng        concedes       that    her      motion    was     untimely.          We
    conclude that the Board did not abuse its discretion in finding
    that she failed to show a change in country conditions that
    would excuse a late motion to reopen.                            We also conclude that
    there    was       no     abuse     of    discretion         by     the     Board       in    its
    consideration of the medical records Zheng submitted in support
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    of her new allegation that she suffered three forced abortions
    in China.       Because Zheng failed to show a change in country
    conditions,     her   claim    that   she   had    a       well-founded    fear   of
    persecution based on her having given birth to two children is a
    change in personal circumstances which does not excuse a late
    motion to reopen.      See Ji Cheng Ni v. Holder, 
    715 F.3d 620
    , 624
    (7th Cir. 2013) (birth of applicant’s two children was a change
    in   personal     circumstances       and    not       a    change    in   country
    conditions); Mei Ya Zhang v. Attorney Gen., 
    572 F.3d 1316
    , 1319
    (11th Cir. 2009) (“An alien cannot circumvent the requirement of
    changed country conditions by demonstrating only a change in her
    personal circumstances.”).
    We also conclude that the Board did not err in finding
    that Zheng did not comply with the requirements for showing that
    she received ineffective assistance of counsel.                      See Barry v.
    Gonzales, 
    445 F.3d 741
    , 745-47 (4th Cir. 2006).
    Because    Zheng    was   in    asylum-only        proceedings,       the
    Board correctly found it did not have jurisdiction to consider
    the approved visa petition or her application for adjustment of
    status.   See Zine v. Mukasey, 
    517 F.3d 535
    , 543 (8th Cir. 2008)
    (the relevant statutes and regulations do not give the Board
    jurisdiction to adjust status in asylum-only proceedings); see
    also Gjerjaj v. Holder, 
    691 F.3d 288
    , 293 (2d Cir. 2012).
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    Insofar    as   Zheng    argues          that    reopening        should    have
    been granted in light of her younger child’s health issues, we
    note   that    such     relief   is    not   generally          available        through   an
    untimely      motion    to    reopen    without         establishing        a    change     in
    country conditions.
    Accordingly,       we   deny       the    petition      for     review.       We
    dispense      with     oral    argument      because           the    facts      and     legal
    contentions     are     adequately     presented          in    the   materials        before
    this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
    PETITION DENIED
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