Peter Terrelonge v. Pamela Bondi

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: May 29, 2025
• Docket: 24-1472
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 24-1472 Doc: 19 Filed: 05/29/2025 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 24-1472

PETER HORACE TERRELONGE,

Petitioner,

v.

PAMELA JO BONDI, Attorney General,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Submitted: May 13, 2025 Decided: May 29, 2025

Before KING, WYNN, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges.

Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Peter Horace Terrelonge, Petitioner Pro Se. Todd J. Cochran, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 24-1472 Doc: 19 Filed: 05/29/2025 Pg: 2 of 3

PER CURIAM:

Peter Horace Terrelonge, a native and citizen of Jamaica, petitions for review of an

order of the Board of Immigration Appeals denying Terrelonge’s motion to reopen his

original removal proceedings, which resulted in Terrelonge’s removal to Jamaica in 2006.

In August 2023, border patrol authorities caught Terrelonge illegally reentering the United

States, after which the Department of Homeland Security reinstated the prior order of

removal (“Reinstatement Order”). Terrelonge sought to reopen the removal proceedings

underlying the Reinstatement Order. The Board denied reopening, ruling that 8 U.S.C.

§ 1231(a)(5) precluded consideration of such a motion. This petition for review timely

followed.

We review a decision denying reopening for abuse of discretion and will grant the

petition only if the Board’s “decision is arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law.” Garcia

Hernandez v. Garland, 27 F.4th 263, 266 (4th Cir. 2022). We have considered

Terrelonge’s claims, in conjunction with the administrative record and relevant authorities,

and discern no abuse of discretion in the Board’s decision. ∗ See Garcia Sarmiento v.

Garland, 45 F.4th 560, 564 (1st Cir. 2022) (collecting cases and ruling, consistent with the

Board’s holding here, that “persons subject to reinstated removal orders following unlawful

reentry are barred from reopening their orders of removal”); see also Tarango-Delgado v.

Garland, 19 F.4th 1233, 1239 (10th Cir. 2021) (“In short, § 1231(a)(5) means what it says.

∗ Because we considered—and rejected—Terrelonge’s assertion that he was not properly served the Reinstatement Order in conjunction with his petition for review in No. 24-1093, Terrelonge v. Garland, we decline to revisit that contention here.

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And because Tarango-Delgado reentered the United States illegally after having been

removed, his prior removal order was reinstated from its original date and is not subject to

being reopened.” (internal quotation marks omitted)); Rodriguez-Saragosa v. Sessions, 904

F.3d 349, 354 (5th Cir. 2018) (reviewing the Board’s interpretation of § 1231(a)(5) de

novo, agreeing that it “deprived the [Board] of authority to reopen” noncitizen’s prior

removal proceedings, and holding that the statute’s “language operates as a mandatory

directive to the [Board], preventing it from granting the relief Rodriguez-Saragosa sought”

(internal quotation marks omitted)). Accordingly, we deny Terrelonge’s motion to appoint

counsel and deny the petition for review. See In re Terrelonge (B.I.A. Apr. 23, 2024).

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