Martha Leticia Salvador-Calleros v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

389 F.3d 959, 60 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 67, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 24727, 2004 WL 2660604
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedNovember 23, 2004
Docket02-71727
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 389 F.3d 959 (Martha Leticia Salvador-Calleros v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martha Leticia Salvador-Calleros v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General, 389 F.3d 959, 60 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 67, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 24727, 2004 WL 2660604 (9th Cir. 2004).

Opinions

Opinion by Judge BETTY B. FLETCHER; Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge LEAVY.

BETTY B. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge.

Martha Salvador-Calleros petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) summary affirmance of an appeal from an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of her application for cancellation of removal. Salvador-Calleros challenges the IJ’s discretionary hardship determination and the BIA’s decision to streamline her appeal. Salvador-Calleros also challenges the constitutionality of the hardship standard applied by the IJ and the constitutionality of the BIA’s streamlining regulations. Finally, Salvador-Calleros moves for a stay of removal and voluntary departure pending disposition of her petition for review.

Because we lack jurisdiction to review either the IJ’s discretionary hardship determination or the BIA’s application of its streamlining regulations to an appeal in which the discretionary hardship determination is the only factor in dispute, we dismiss in part the petition for review. Because we conclude that the hardship standard applied by the IJ falls within the broad range authorized by statute, and we find that Salvador-Calleros’ constitutional challenge to the streamlining regulations is foreclosed by this court’s precedent, we deny the balance of the petition for review. However, we hold that both the motion for stay of removal and the motion for stay of voluntary departure encompassed within it are timely filed.

I. Factual and Procedural History

Martha Salvador-Calleros, a native and citizen of Mexico, entered the United States unlawfully in 1986, when she was thirteen. She has remained here since that time. She has two U.S. citizen children for whom English is their first language. Salvador-Calleros was placed in removal proceedings on June 1, 1998. Salvador-Calleros testified that she would take her children with her to Mexico if denied relief. She also testified that they would suffer hardship because they do not speak Spanish proficiently, they would be separated from close relatives remaining in the United States, and she would have difficulty finding a job to support them.

The IJ ordered Salvador-Calleros removed to Mexico. Although the IJ found that Salvador-Calleros had established the ten-year physical presence and good moral character requirements for cancellation of removal, the IJ denied her application for cancellation of removal after finding that Salvador-Calleros failed to establish extreme and unusual hardship to a qualifying relative.1 However, the IJ granted her a period of voluntary departure in lieu of removal.

Salvador-Calleros filed a timely appeal to the BIA. In its May 16, 2002 order, the BIA summarily affirmed the IJ’s decision without opinion and renewed in its order Salvador-Calleros’ voluntary departure period for thirty days. The thirtieth calen[962]*962dar day of Salvador-Calleros’ voluntary departure period fell on June 15, 2002, a Saturday. Salvador-Calleros timely filed both her petition for review and motion for a stay of removal on Monday, June 17, 2002, and this court granted Salvador-Calleros a temporary stay of removal. On July 23, 2002, the government filed a notice of non-opposition to Salvador-Calleros’ motion to stay removal, and on August 22, 2002, pursuant to General Order 6.4(c), we extended Salvador-Calleros’ stay of removal pending review. Because the thirtieth calendar day of the voluntary departure period granted by the BIA fell on a Saturday while the timely motion for stay of removal was filed on the following Monday, we ordered supplemental briefing on the issue of whether a timely stay of voluntary departure was encompassed within the stay of removal.

II. Jurisdiction

IIRIRA limits this court’s jurisdiction to review certain final orders of the BIA.2 While we retain jurisdiction to review “purely legal and hence non-discretionary question[s],” Montero-Martinez v. Ashcroft, 277 F.3d 1137, 1144 (9th Cir.2002), “[bjecause the BIA ... is vested with the discretion to determine whether an alien has demonstrated the requisite hardship, we are without jurisdiction to review the BIA’s hardship determinations under IIRIRA.” Romero-Torres v. Ashcroft, 327 F.3d 887, 891 (9th Cir.2003). Because we lack jurisdiction to review the Id’s discretionary determination that Salvador-Calleros failed to demonstrate the requisite hardship for cancellation of removal, we dismiss that claim.

We also lack jurisdiction to review BIA decisions to streamline appeals where the only issue on appeal is the discretionary hardship determination. See Falcon Carriche v. Ashcroft, 350 F.3d 845, 855 (9th Cir.2003). Cf. Chong Shin Chen v. Ashcroft, 378 F.3d 1081, 1087-88 (9th Cir.2004) (finding jurisdiction to review non-discretionary decisions to streamline). Because the discretionary hardship determination was the only issue in Salvador-Calleros’ appeal to the BIA, we lack jurisdiction to review the BIA’s decision to streamline her appeal, and we dismiss that claim.

Notwithstanding any statutory limitations on judicial review, we retain jurisdiction to review constitutional claims, even where those claims relate to a discretionary decision. See Falcon Carriche, 350 F.3d at 850; Ramirez-Perez v. Ashcroft, 336 F.3d 1001, 1004 (9th Cir.2003) (“Although we lack jurisdiction to review whether an alien has established exceptional and extremely unusual hardship, we retain jurisdiction to consider whether the BIA’s interpretation of the hardship standard violates due process.” (footnote omitted)). Therefore, we review Salvador-Calleros’ due process challenges to the [963]*963hardship standard and streamlining regulations.

III. Discussion

A. The Due Process Claims

We review claims of due process violations in removal proceedings de novo. See Padilla v. Ashcroft, 334 F.3d 921, 923 (9th Cir.2003); Agyeman v. INS, 296 F.3d 871, 876 (9th Cir.2002).

Petitioner first claims that the IJ violated due process by applying too stringent a standard in determining whether her removal would cause exceptional and extremely unusual hardship. In Ramirez-Perez, we found that “[t]he BIA has not exceeded its broad authority by defining ‘exceptional and extremely unusual hardship’ narrowly.” 336 F.3d at 1006 (footnote omitted). In both Ramirez-Perez and the instant case, the IJ found that removal to Mexico of a mother whose child has been raised in the United States would not cause the requisite “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship.” Id. at 1003-04.

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389 F.3d 959, 60 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 67, 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 24727, 2004 WL 2660604, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martha-leticia-salvador-calleros-v-john-ashcroft-attorney-general-ca9-2004.