By: Derek Hawkins//November 18, 2019//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Henrikas Malukas v. William P. Barr
Case No.: 19-1633
Officials: EASTERBROOK, HAMILTON, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Immigration – Removal Order
Henrikas Malukas, a citizen of Lithuania, entered the United States in 1992 on a tourist visa and did not leave when it expired. In 1995 he was convicted of several weapons-related felonies and sentenced to 52 months in prison. While he was imprisoned, immigration officials began removal proceedings. Malukas applied for discretionary relief as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, but the immigration judge (and later the Board of Immigration Appeals) concluded that his criminal conduct outweighed whatever equities his family and financial ties to the United States supplied.
The Board’s final order was entered in July 2003, and Malukas did not seek judicial review. He did file a timely motion for reconsideration, arguing that his criminal conduct should not have been deemed such a high obstacle to relief. The Board denied that motion in September 2003, and again Malukas did not seek judicial review.
To the extent that the Board denied the motion to reconsider and reopen its decision of 2003, the petition for review is denied. To the extent that the Board declined to reopen the proceedings sua sponte, the petition for review is dismissed for want of jurisdiction.
Petition Denied