Case Explained: REYES LOPEZ, ET AL. V. BLANCHE

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Filed: 2026-06-24 The ninth-circuit denied the petition for review regarding the denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection, and dismissed in part the petition challenging the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of a motion to reopen. The court applied the substantial evidence standard to factual findings and an abuse of discretion standard to the denial of the motion to reopen. Regarding the first petition, the court rejected the claim that the agency failed to consider all evidence as unsupported by the record, noting the petitioners did not challenge the agency’s finding regarding Guatemala’s inability or unwillingness to protect them. Regarding the second petition, the court dismissed the untimeliness issue and held it lacked jurisdiction to review the discretionary denial of a sua sponte motion to reopen except for legal or constitutional error, finding no such error. The court also rejected equal protection challenges to the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act as foreclosed by precedent. Consequently, the temporary stay of removal was lifted, and the petitioners’ requests for relief were denied. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.