Duarte-Ceri v. Holder, No. 08-6128

Petition for Review of Denial of Motion to Reopen Removal Proceedings Dismissed

In Duarte-Ceri v. Holder, No. 08-6128, a petition for review of the BIA's denial of petitioner's motion to reopen removal proceedings, the court held the petition in abeyance and transferred the matter to the district court where petitioner was still "under the age of eighteen years" when his mother was naturalized, but there had been no factual finding as to the actual timing of petitioner's birth, and thus a new hearing on the nationality claim was required.

As the court wrote:  "On June 14, 1973, petitioner Ramón Antonio Duarte-Ceri ("Duarte") was born in the Dominican Republic.  On June 14, 1991 -- eighteen years later to the day -- Duarte's mother was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in New York.  The parties and the Immigration Judge below assumed that Duarte was born in the evening and that his mother was naturalized in the morning.  The question presented is whether Duarte was still "under the age of eighteen years" when his mother took the naturalization oath."

Related Resources

• Read the Second Circuit's Decision in Duarte-Ceri v. Holder, No. 08-6128