Noel Reyes Mata, an unlawful resident alien, was convicted of assault in a Texas state court and deported in 2010 to Mexico, the country of which he was a citizen.

[1] The BIA dismissed the motion, ruled it untimely, and declined to reopen the case sua sponte under its regulatory authority as per Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

He argued that the receipt of ineffective counsel deprived him of his due process rights, which should have preempted the untimeliness of his motion, entitling him to equitable tolling of time.

The question at hand was whether the Fifth Circuit erred in ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to review the Board of Immigration Appeals decision to decline waiving the 90-day filing deadline.

[1] Justice Thomas dissented and stated that before determining whether it possess jurisdiction, the Fifth Circuit should have first construed Mata's ambiguous motion as either invoking statutory relief or requesting the BIA to act on its sua sponte authority.