Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/481

 502us2$24h 01-22-99 08:25:35 PAGES OPINPGT

Cite as: 502 U. S. 314 (1992)

323

Opinion of the Court

“. . . Motions to reopen in deportation proceedings shall not be granted unless it appears to the Board that evidence sought to be offered is material and was not available and could not have been discovered or presented at the former hearing. . . .” The granting of a motion to reopen is thus discretionary, INS v. Phinpathya, 464 U. S. 183, 188, n. 6 (1984), and the Attorney General has “broad discretion” to grant or deny such motions, Rios-Pineda, supra, at 449. Motions for reopening of immigration proceedings are disfavored for the same reasons as are petitions for rehearing and motions for a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence. INS v. Abudu, 485 U. S., at 107–108. This is especially true in a deportation proceeding, where, as a general matter, every delay works to the advantage of the deportable alien who wishes merely to remain in the United States. See INS v. Rios-Pineda, supra, at 450. In Abudu, supra, we stated that there were “at least” three independent grounds on which the BIA might deny a motion to reopen—failure to establish a prima facie case for the relief sought, failure to introduce previously unavailable, material evidence, and a determination that even if these requirements were satisfied, the movant would not be entitled to the discretionary grant of relief which he sought. Abudu, supra, at 104–105. When denial of a motion to reopen is based on the last two of these three grounds, abuse of discretion is the proper standard of review. 485 U. S., at 105. We also noted in Abudu that the abuse-of-discretion standard applies to motions to reopen “regardless of the underlying basis of the alien’s request [for relief].” Id., at 99, n. 3.6 In Abudu itself, the alien’s claim for asylum was made after 6 This is so, in part, because every request for asylum made after institution of deportation proceedings is also considered as a request for withholding of deportation under 8 U. S. C. § 1253(h) (1988 ed. and Supp. II). 8 CFR § 208.3(b) (1983).