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Kuffour v. Sessions

Facts

Mark Kwadwo Kuffour, a citizen of Ghana, unlawfully entered the United States in 1997 and was served with a notice to appear for removal in 2009. He initially sought cancellation of removal based on hardship to his U.S.-citizen daughter but faced representation issues when his attorney withdrew during the removal hearing. After the Immigration Judge denied his request for cancellation and voluntary departure, Kuffour sought to reopen the case based on ineffective assistance claims against his previous attorneys, but the BIA found he failed to provide evidence of eligibility or comply with procedural requirements.

Kuffour is a citizen of Ghana who unlawfully entered the United States in 1997. In July 2009, he was served with a notice to appear charging him with removability. Kuffour engaged attorney Obadan Iziokhai, who submitted pleadings on his behalf seeking cancellation of removal based on hardship to his U.S.-citizen daughter and voluntary departure. However, Iziokhai withdrew from representing Kuffour at the start of his March 2014 removal hearing, and Kuffour proceeded at the hearing pro se.

Issue

Did the BIA abuse its discretion in denying Kuffour's motion to reconsider its order refusing to reopen his case?

Rule

A motion to reconsider is intended to cure errors in the prior BIA decision and must specify asserted errors rather than merely reiterate previous arguments. The BIA's decision is reviewed for abuse of discretion, and it will be upheld unless arbitrary, irrational, or contrary to law.

A motion to reconsider is 'intended only to cure errors (factual or legal) in the prior BIA decision.'

Analysis

The court determined that Kuffour's motion to reconsider did not identify any specific legal or factual errors in the BIA's original decision. Instead, he simply reiterated arguments that had already been considered and rejected by the BIA. The court noted that Kuffour's submission of new documents was irrelevant at this stage, as reconsideration cannot introduce new facts but must contest the correctness of the original decision based on the existing record.

We find no such abuse of discretion. In his motion to reconsider, Kuffour asserted that the BIA erred in refusing to reopen his proceedings, but he supported that assertion only by reiterating the same arguments that the BIA previously had considered and rejected. He did not point to specific errors in the BIA's assessment of his contentions.

Conclusion

The court concluded that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying Kuffour's motion to reconsider, and thus, the petition for review was denied.

For the foregoing reasons, the BIA did not abuse its discretion in rejecting Kuffour's motion to reconsider. We thus deny the petition for review.

Who won?

The BIA prevailed in this case as the court upheld its decision, finding no abuse of discretion in denying Kuffour's motion to reconsider.

The BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying the alien's motion to reconsider its order refusing to reopen his case.

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