Bonilla-Espinoza v. Blanche

── Bonilla-Espinoza v. Blanche ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: June 01, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-9552 Document: 55 Date Filed: 06/01/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS June 1, 2026 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ JORGE ALBERTO BONILLA- ESPINOZA, Petitioner, v. No. 25-9552 TODD W. BLANCHE *, Acting United States Attorney General, Respondent. _________________________________ Petition for Review from the Board of Immigration Appeals _________________________________ Submitted on the briefs: ** Brendan E. Ryan, Devika M. Balaram, and Eric J. Wendorf, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Chicago, IL, and Charles G. Roth and Colleen M. Cowgill, National Immigrant Justice Center, Chicago, IL, for Petitioner. Brett A. Shumate, Assistant Attorney General, Leslie McKay, Assistant Director, and Sarah K. Pergolizzi, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. _________________________________ Before HARTZ, BACHARACH, and CARSON, Circuit Judges. * On April 2, 2026, Todd W. Blanche became Acting Attorney General of the United States. Consequently, he has been substituted for Pamela J. Bondi as Respondent, per Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2). ** After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.  Appellate Case: 25-9552 Document: 55 Date Filed: 06/01/2026 Page: 2 _________________________________ HARTZ, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ Jorge Alberto Bonilla-Espinoza (Petitioner) is a native and citizen of El Salvador. We previously denied Petitioner’s petition for review of the dismissal by the Board of Immigration Affairs (BIA) of his appeal from the decision of an immigration judge (IJ) denying him asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). See Bonilla-Espinoza v. Bondi, 166 F.4th 51, 53 (10th Cir. 2026). Petitioner now seeks review of the BIA’s denial of his motion to reopen his proceedings before the BIA. We deny the petition. The BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion as untimely. I. BACKGROUND Petitioner testified before the IJ that from 2017 to 2022 he was detained three times by the Salvadoran police and beaten by them on seven other occasions. The first of these detentions lasted nine months until a Salvadoran judge found Petitioner innocent and ordered him released. Shortly after Petitioner’s third detention, police detained Petitioner’s mother and two sisters on suspicion of collaborating with illicit groups (the same charge that supposedly justified each detention and beating of Petitioner). In January 2023, within a month of his family’s detention, Petitioner fled El Salvador. Petitioner arrived in the United States near El Paso, Texas, on February 7, 2023. Because he lacked proper documentation, he was detained. After being served 2  Appellate Case: 25-9552 Document: 55 Date Filed: 06/01/2026