Folivi v. Mukasey , 260 F. App'x 538 ( 2007 )


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  •                             UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 07-1531
    ASSIONGBON JONAS FOLIVI; AKUVI FOLIVI-ANTHONY;
    DANIELE AYELE FOLIVI; MARTHE WILLIAMS A.
    FOLIVI,
    Petitioners,
    versus
    MICHAEL B. MUKASEY, Attorney General,
    Respondent.
    On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration
    Appeals. (A79-477-772)
    Submitted:   December 14, 2007          Decided:    December 28, 2007
    Before WILKINSON, MOTZ, and KING, Circuit Judges.
    Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Peter Nyoh, PETER NYOH & ASSOCIATES, Silver Spring, Maryland, for
    Petitioners.   Jeffrey S. Bucholtz, Acting Assistant Attorney
    General, Susan K. Houser, Senior Litigation Counsel, Jason Xavier
    Hamilton, 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    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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:
    Assiongbon Jonas Folivi, a native and citizen of Togo,
    petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration
    Appeals (“Board”) denying his motion to reopen.             We deny the
    petition for review.
    We review the Board’s denial of a motion to reopen for
    abuse of discretion.   
    8 C.F.R. § 1003.2
    (a) (2007); INS v. Doherty,
    
    502 U.S. 314
    , 323-24 (1992); Nibagwire v. Gonzales, 
    450 F.3d 153
    ,
    156 (4th Cir. 2006).       A denial of a motion to reopen must be
    reviewed with extreme deference, since immigration statutes do not
    contemplate    reopening   and   the   applicable   regulations   disfavor
    motions to reopen.    M.A. v. INS, 
    899 F.2d 304
    , 308 (4th Cir. 1990)
    (en banc).     In explaining the degree of deference given to the
    agency’s discretionary review, this court has observed that the
    decision to deny a motion to reopen “need only be reasoned, not
    convincing.”    
    Id. at 310
     (quotation marks and citation omitted).
    We will reverse a denial of a motion to reopen only if the denial
    is “arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law.” Barry v. Gonzales,
    
    445 F.3d 741
    , 745 (4th Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and
    citation omitted), cert. denied, 
    127 S. Ct. 1147
     (2007).
    We find the Board did not abuse its discretion in denying
    the motion to reopen.        Accordingly, we deny the petition for
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    review.*   We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
    legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
    the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
    PETITION DENIED
    *
    We note Folivi has not challenged the Board’s decision not to
    allow him to file a successive asylum application. “It is a well
    settled rule that contentions not raised in the argument section of
    the opening brief are abandoned.” United States v. Al-Hamdi, 
    356 F.3d 564
    , 571 n.8 (4th Cir. 2004).
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