Opinion
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
NOT FOR PUBLICATION. (See Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure Rule 32.1)
On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Agency No. A095-761-112.
For PEDRO JUAREZ-LORENZO, Petitioner: Mario Acosta, Jr., Esquire, Attorney, LAW OFFICES OF MARIO ACOSTA, JR., Los Angeles, CA.
For ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General, Respondent: Chief Counsel ICE, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF COUNSEL, Department of Homeland Security, San Francisco, CA; Melissa Lynn Neiman-Kelting, Senior Litigation Counsel, OIL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Civil Division/Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC.
Before: FISHER, GOULD, and BYBEE, Circuit Judges.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Pedro Juarez-Lorenzo, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' (" BIA" ) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge's denial of his motion to reopen removal proceedings conducted in absentia. Our jurisdiction is governed by 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review for abuse of discretion the denial of a motion to reopen. Mohammed v. Gonzales, 400 F.3d 785, 791 (9th Cir. 2005). We deny in part and dismiss in part the petition for review.
The agency did not abuse its discretion by denying Juarez-Lorenzo's motion to reopen where he failed to establish that exceptional circumstances excused his failure to appear at his hearing. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(e)(1) (defining exceptional circumstances as circumstances beyond the control of the alien); Sharma v. INS, 89 F.3d 545, 547 (9th Cir. 1996) (traffic congestion and parking difficulties insufficient to require reopening); see also Valencia-Fragoso v. INS, 321 F.3d 1204, 1205-06 (9th Cir. 2003) (per curiam) (considering that only possible relief was discretionary grant of voluntary departure as factor in exceptional circumstances determination).
We lack jurisdiction to review Juarez-Lorenzo's claim regarding the transcript from his February 2009 hearing because he failed to raise it before the BIA, and thereby failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. See Tijani v. Holder, 628 F.3d 1071, 1080 (9th Cir. 2010). Juarez-Lorenzo's contention regarding the transcript from his November 2009 hearing is not supported by the record.
PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED in part; DISMISSED in part.