11 Oct 2011
Ninth Circuit on deadlines, weekends
"[W]e hold that, where the last day of a period of voluntary departure falls on a day on which an immigrant cannot file a motion for affirmative relief with the BIA, that day does not count in the voluntary departure period if, as here, the immigrant files on the first available day a motion that would either have tolled, automatically withdrawn, or otherwise affected his request for voluntary departure. We are not extending the voluntary departure period, but rather determining on which day the sixtieth day falls. For Meza-Vallejos, this means that neither Saturday, July 16 nor Sunday, July 17 is counted in his voluntary departure period. As a result, his motion to reopen was timely filed on Monday, July 18. Since the BIA denied Meza-Vallejos’s motion to reopen solely on the ground that he overstayed his period of voluntary departure, we GRANT the petition for review and REMAND to the BIA with instructions to consider the merits of the motion to reopen."