Sousa v. Ashcroft

LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

Immigration cases in which removal orders are entered in absentia may raise issues of unfairness or arbitrary actions by the agency. See, e.g., Herbert v. Ashcroft, 325 F.3d 68 (1st Cir.2003). This case is not one of them, and we affirm the agency.

In this case, Bernardino Sousa, who is married (and was once before) to a United States citizen, seeks to forestall execution of a removal order issued in absentia in 1998. The vehicle is his challenge to a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) order entered in April 2004 denying his motion to reconsider an Immigration Judge’s (IJ)…