CA9 on Right to Notice: Velasquez-Escovar v. Holder

"At the outset of her removal proceedings, Odilia de Jesus Velasquez-Escovar gave immigration officials her current address in Los Angeles. But those officials did not properly record it. Instead, they recorded another outdated address and then sent Velasquez’s hearing notice there. Velasquez never got that notice and, without it, she did not know when to appear for her deportation hearing. Understandably, she failed to appear and was ordered removed in absentia. When she found out about that order, Velasquez moved to reopen. An Immigration Judge denied that motion, and the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed. In so doing, it abused its discretion. Accordingly, we grant Velasquez’s petition for review. ... There is only one question here: Did the BIA abuse its discretion when it decided that Velasquez was not entitled to notice under the immigration statutes? The answer is “yes” because neither of the BIA’s two reasons support its decision. It is arbitrary to discount Petitioner’s unrefuted claim without providing a reason. ... Although we hold that Velasquez was entitled to notice, we understand why the IJ, the BIA, and the government pressed the opposite result. What makes that result so attractive is that it would have been so easy for Velasquez to notice the error on the NTA and so easy for her to correct it. A little diligence and common sense on her part could have avoided this appeal. But neither diligence nor common sense are notice. Notice is notice. And, under the circumstances here, Velasquez was entitled to notice." - Velasquez-Escovar v. Holder, Sept. 29, 2014.