Feb. 6, 2026
Traffic delays can justify reopening in absentia orders, 9th Circuit rules
The 9th Circuit en banc held immigration judges must conduct a case-specific inquiry into whether severe traffic can constitute "exceptional circumstances," overruling part of a 2021 precedent and remanding a family's removal case to the BIA.
A full panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that immigration judges may not apply a categorical rule that traffic delays can never constitute "exceptional circumstances" justifying the reopening of in absentia removal orders, overruling part of a 2021 precedent while dividing over whether the agency did so here.
The case arose after Claudia Elena Montejo-Gonzalez and her two children were ordered removed in absentia when they arrived two hours late to an ...
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