Citalli Sanchez Escobar v. Pamela Bondi

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FEB 17 2026 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT CITLALLI BERENICE SANCHEZ No. 19-71421 ESCOBAR, Agency No. A096-349-930 Petitioner, v. MEMORANDUM* PAMELA BONDI, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted February 12, 2026** Pasadena, California Before: TALLMAN, VANDYKE, and TUNG, Circuit Judges. Citlalli Berenice Sanchez Escobar, a citizen and native of Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) denial of her motion to reopen as untimely. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen for abuse of discretion, Bonilla v. Lynch, 840 * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). F.3d 575, 581 (9th Cir. 2016), and we deny the petition. We assume without deciding that Sanchez Escobar was ignorant of her original counsel’s shortcomings until she received her full case file and reviewed it with current counsel. See id. at 582 (setting forth factors to consider). However, she did nothing to pursue immigration relief after being approved for deferred action in 2012 until she retained current counsel in 2017 to assist her in filing an I- 130 petition based on her marriage to a United States citizen—whom she married in 2010. Neither the record nor the briefs explain this five-year lapse in her efforts to secure immigration relief. Accordingly, she did not “make reasonable efforts to pursue relief” during the period from 2012 to 2017 “and so did not demonstrate the diligence necessary for equitable tolling.” Id. at 583 (citation modified) (finding equitable tolling not warranted when petitioner waited six years to pursue immigration relief, purportedly on advice of counsel). PETITION DENIED. 2