Patricio Nieves Tenecela v. U.S. Attorney General

── Patricio Nieves Tenecela v. U.S. Attorney General ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: May 08, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-11415 Document: 28-1 Date Filed: 05/08/2026 Page: 1 of 12 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-11415 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ PATRICIO LUCIANO NIEVES TENECELA, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ____________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A098-495-526 ____________________ Before JORDAN, ROSENBAUM, and KIDD, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Patricio Nieves Tenecela petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his motion to reopen the immigration judge’s (“IJ”) in absentia removal order. USCA11 Case: 25-11415 Document: 28-1 Date Filed: 05/08/2026 Page: 2 of 12 2 Opinion of the Court 25-11415 He first argues that the BIA abused its discretion by denying his motion to reopen his removal proceedings as number-barred and untimely. In Nieves Tenecela’s view, he was entitled to equitable tolling of these restrictions because his Notice to Appear (“NTA”) did not contain the date or time of his hearing. Second, he argues that his matter should be remanded to the BIA so that it may exer- cise its sua sponte authority to reopen his removal order. After careful review, we deny the petition in part and dismiss it in part. I. Nieves Tenecela is a native and citizen of Ecuador. He en- tered the United States without inspection in December 2003. In July 2006, while detained in New Jersey, he was served with an NTA charging him as removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) and ordering him to appear for a hearing in New Jersey on “a date to be set” and at “a time to be set.” He was transferred to immi- gration court in Florida, and attended several hearings, before his release on bond in September 2006. In October 2006, the immigration court mailed a Notice of Hearing (“NOH”) to Nieves Tenecela’s attorney, stating that a master hearing would be conducted in Miami immigration court on May 24, 2007, at 8:00 a.m. The NOH warned that failure to appear except for exceptional circumstances may result in the entry of an order of removal. Nieves Tenecela failed to appear for the hearing, and the IJ ordered him removed in absentia, noting that USCA11 Case: 25-11415 Document: 28-1 Date Filed: 05/08/2026 Page: 3 of 12 25-11415 Opinion of the Court 3 Nieves-Tenecela had previously admitted the NTA’s factual allega- tions and conceded removability. A. In February 2016, nearly nine years after entry of the re- moval order, Nieves Tenecela filed the first of several motions to reopen his removal proceedings. He argued that venue was im- properly changed to Florida from New Jersey, where he had lived since entering the country in 2003. The IJ denied the motion. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision on appeal, finding that that the mo- tion to reopen was untimely, that Nieves Tenecela f