BIA Drops Hammer on Aliens Filing Late Motions to Reopen and to Stay Removal Orders
Equities acquired years after orders are final don’t count for much, and aliens seeking stays must now ask DHS first
By Andrew R. Arthur on June 18, 2026
The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) — the DOJ component that reviews immigration decisions — is struggling to handle nearly 220,000 pending appeals, and the last thing it needs are countless motions filed by aliens under years-old final removal orders who suddenly realize they may actually be forced to leave. To alleviate that burden, the Board recently issued two orders, one making clear that it won’t give much weight to “equities” acquired by aliens years after they were ordered removed, and the other telling such aliens they must first ask DHS if they want to stay their impending removals. Did I mention that both decisions relate to the same alien?
Matter of Herrera-Nunez I
The respondent in both cases is Felipe De Jesus Herrera-Nunez, and he is in a pickle largely of his own brining.
As the BIA explains in Matter of Herrera-Nunez, 29 I&N Dec. 691 (BIA 2026) (Herrera-Nunez I), the alien is a native and citizen of Mexico who was charged with removability on an unspecified ground, placed into removal proceedings at an unspecified court, and found removable by an immigration judge (IJ) on an unspecified date in the past.
He filed an appeal of the IJ’s removal order with the BIA, and on October 5, 2015, the Board dismissed his appeal.
At that point, by regulation, his removal order was administratively final.
It doesn’t appear he filed a petition for review under sections 242(a)(1) and (b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) with the U.S. circuit court having jurisdiction over the unspecified place where the IJ heard his case within 30 days of the BIA issuing its order, either.
Instead, he simply decided to ignore the Board’s decision.
https://cis.org/Arthur/BIA-Drops-Hammer-Aliens-Filing-Late-Motions-Reopen-and-Stay-Removal-Orders
