Banda-Ortiz v. Gonzales

The panel majority today unnecessarily creates a circuit split on an important issue of immigration law and ensures that a sizable number of aliens facing departure will be effectively unable to avail themselves of the statutory right to file one good-faith motion to reopen, regardless of the merit of their underlying claims. Because Congress could not possibly have intended this result, I respectfully dissent.

I

We are the fourth circuit to consider this precise question: Does a timely filed motion to reopen toll an alien’s voluntary departure period?1 We are the first to answer in the…