Facts
- An Immigration Judge ordered Stone deported in 1988.
- The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed the deportation order on July 26, 1991.
- Stone later filed a motion to reopen and/or reconsider; the BIA denied the motion in February 1993.
- Stone petitioned the Sixth Circuit for review of both the BIA’s affirmance of deportation and the denial of reopening/reconsideration.
- The statutory scheme included INA § 106(a)(1), imposing a 90-day period to seek review of a “final order of deportation,” and INA § 106(a)(6), requiring consolidation of review of reopening/reconsideration with review of the underlying order.
Issues
- Whether a timely motion to reopen or reconsider a BIA decision tolls INA § 106(a)(1)’s 90-day period for filing a petition for review of a final deportation order.
- Whether INA § 106(a)(6)’s consolidation requirement implies that the underlying deportation order becomes nonfinal while a reopening/reconsideration motion is pending.
Decision
- The Supreme Court affirmed the Sixth Circuit.
- A timely BIA motion to reopen or reconsider does not toll the 90-day filing period in INA § 106(a)(1).
- The BIA’s affirmance of deportation remains a final order for judicial review even if a reopening/reconsideration motion is filed.
- The denial of a motion to reopen or reconsider is a separate final order that may be reviewed, but it does not restart or suspend the deadline to seek review of the underlying deportation order.
Legal Principles
- Statutory time limits for petitions for review under INA § 106(a)(1) continue to run from the date of the final deportation order, notwithstanding a later motion to reopen or reconsider.
- INA § 106(a)(6) contemplates two reviewable orders (the underlying deportation order and the reopening/reconsideration denial) and directs consolidation when both are before the court.
- The consolidation mechanism in § 106(a)(6) supports a no-tolling rule because tolling would typically eliminate the need for two separate petitions and thus leave nothing to consolidate.
- A court of appeals lacks jurisdiction to review an underlying deportation order if the petition for review is filed outside the statutory period, even if a later petition timely challenges the denial of reopening/reconsideration.
Conclusion
The Court held that filing a timely motion to reopen or reconsider before the BIA does not suspend the statutory deadline to seek judicial review of a final deportation order; to preserve review of both decisions, a petitioner must timely file separate petitions for the underlying order and the reopening/reconsideration denial, with consolidation as directed by statute.