9th Cir.;
14-70339

The court of appeals granted a petition for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals, vacated the underlying order of removal, and remanded. The court held that the Board's order dismissing an appeal needed to be deemed the final administrative order for purposes of the timeliness of a petition for review of an order denying withholding of removal..

After being served with a notice of reinstatement of removal, El Salvadoran Osmani Martinez expressed a fear of torture if he was forced to return to l Salvador. An asylum officer found Martinez's testimony credible, but nonetheless concluded he had not established a reasonable fear of torture or persecution. Martinez requested review by an immigration judge (IJ). The IJ concurred in the asylum officer's ruling, concluding that even if everything Martinez said was true, it did not qualify as a ground for withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The IJ's written decision issued on December 17, 2013. Ten days later, Martinez mailed a notice of appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). On January 28, 2014, the BIA dismissed the appeal, finding that “controlling federal regulations provide that no appeal lies from an Immigration Judge's decision reviewing a negative Reasonable Fear Determination.”