Muhammad Sabir v. Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States

WOOD, Circuit Judge.

Muhammad Sabir, a Pakistani who stayed in the United States longer than authorized, was ordered in absentia to be removed when he failed to appear at his removal hearing. He moved to reopen the hearing because he did not receive the notice of its date and time. The immigration judge (IJ) found the notice adequate based on evidence of its attempted delivery. As we have recently emphasized, however, the relevant question in deciding a motion to reopen is not whether the notice was “adequate,” but whether it was actually received. Because the IJ’s analysis ignored the latter…