Ramirez-Matias v. Holder
| Decision Date | 13 February 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. 14–1056.,14–1056. |
| Citation | 778 F.3d 322 |
| Parties | Juan RAMIREZ–MATIAS, Petitioner, v. Eric H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
Kevin MacMurray and MacMurray & Associates on brief for petitioner.
Stuart F. Delery, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, Leslie McKay, Assistant
Director, and Melissa Neiman–Kelting, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, on brief for respondent.
Before HOWARD, SELYA and THOMPSON, Circuit Judges.
Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction—and those limits demand strict adherence. As we explain below, the petitioner crosses this jurisdictional line.
The petitioner's claims of error can be divided into two tranches. The first tranche involves an agency decision under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), see Pub.L. No. 105–100, §§ 201–204, 111 Stat. 2160, 2196–2201 ()—a decision that Congress has removed from the jurisdiction of the Article III courts.See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B). The second tranche involves claims of error that are unexhausted and, thus, unsuitable for judicial review. See, e.g., Wan v. Holder, 776 F.3d 52, 56 (1st Cir.2015) [Nos. 13–1893, 14–1285] ().
The facts are straightforward. Petitioner Juan Ramirez–Matias, a Guatemalan national, entered the United States without inspection in 1990 and has remained unlawfully, save for a two-month visit to his homeland. In August of 2008, the Department of Homeland Security commenced removal proceedings against him. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). The petitioner conceded removability and cross-applied for discretionary relief under NACARA in the form of special rule cancellation of removal or, in the alternative, for asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT).
Although the petitioner admitted that he had neither been threatened nor physically harmed while residing in Guatemala, he asserted that he left to escape an ongoing civil war. He claimed to fear returning to Guatemala because his return would bring back negative memories of the war. As an additional ground for relief, he argued that he does not wish to be separated from his children (one of whom is a special needs child) and that, if he takes his children to Guatemala, he will not be able to support them.
The discretionary nature of NACARA relief brought the petitioner's moral character into issue before the immigration judge (IJ). In his testimony, the petitioner was confronted with two earlier domestic violence charges. The first—for battery—occurred in 1994; the second—for assault—occurred in 2006.
The police report for the first incident states that the petitioner's first wife, displaying visible marks, complained to the responding officers that he had struck her several times in the face. Both the petitioner and his first wife testified before the IJ and contradicted this account.
The 2006 police report states that the police responded to a call reporting a domestic dispute. There, the petitioner's second wife told police that the petitioner had struck her in the face and mouth. She had a bruise on her face and a bleeding cut on her lip consistent with this account. Before the IJ, however, both the petitioner and his second wife disclaimed this version of events.
The IJ denied the petitioner's entreaties for special rule cancellation of removal, asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection. He premised his decision denying special rule cancellation of removal on a finding that, although the petitioner met the continuous physical presence requirement and demonstrated the requisite level of hardship with respect to his special needs child, he did not merit a favorable exercise of discretion. In this regard, the IJ expressed grave concern about the domestic assault charges and what he characterized as perjurious testimony by the petitioner and his two witnesses. The IJ also denied the petitioner's asylum and withholding of removal claims (, that he neither was a victim of past persecution nor subject to a well-founded fear of future persecution) and rejected the CAT claim as well ( that the petitioner had made no showing that he would be tortured if repatriated).
The petitioner appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). His appeal focused almost exclusively on the denial of his NACARA claim and made only a perfunctory protest of the denial of his other claims. The BIA upheld the IJ's denial of special rule cancellation of removal under NACARA as an appropriate exercise of discretion. At the same time, the BIA affirmed the IJ's rejection of the petitioner's remaining claims for relief. This timely petition for judicial review followed.
In this venue, the petitioner attempts to pursue two lines of attack. First, he asseverates that the denial of special rule cancellation of removal constituted an abuse of discretion. Second, he asseverates that the denial of his other requests for relief was unwarranted.1 Where, as here, the BIA adopts and affirms the IJ's decision but adds reasoning of its own, we review the tiered decisions as a unit. See Chen v. Holder, 703 F.3d 17, 21 (1st Cir.2012) ; Berrio–Barrera v. Gonzales, 460 F.3d 163, 167 (1st Cir.2006).
We start with the denial of the petitioner's application for special rule cancellation of removal. That application invoked NACARA, a statute that amended the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to allow certain aliens (including those from Guatemala) to apply for special rule cancellation of removal. See Gonzalez–Ruano v. Holder, 662 F.3d 59, 60–61 (1st Cir.2011). NACARA enables non-citizen aliens who are facing removal to apply for “discretionary relief under prior, more generous statutory standards.” Id. at 60.
To qualify for relief under NACARA, a Guatemalan national must have entered the United States on or prior to October 1, 1990, and must have registered for benefits under American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh, 760 F.Supp. 796 (N.D.Cal.1991) prior to December 31, 1991.2 See NACARA, Pub.L. No. 105–100, sec. 203(a)(1), § 309(c)(5)(C)(i)(I)(bb), 111 Stat. at 2197 (codified at 8 U.S.C. 1101 note); 8 C.F.R. §§ 1240.61(a) ; 1240.66(a). Additionally, such a person (who, like the petitioner, is not inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2) or (3) ) must demonstrate a seven-year period of continuous presence in the United States, good moral character, and extreme hardship. See 8 C.F.R. § 1240.66(b) ; see also Gonzalez–Ruano, 662 F.3d at 61. The applicant has the burden of proving by preponderant evidence that he satisfies these baseline eligibility requirements. See 8 C.F.R. §§ 1240.64(a), 1240.66 ; see also Gonzalez–Ruano, 662 F.3d at 61. If so, the applicant must then persuade the immigration court that he merits a favorable exercise of its discretion. See 8 C.F.R. § 1240.64(a) ; see also Gonzalez–Ruano, 662 F.3d at 61.
In this instance, the IJ (and, on appeal, the BIA) balanced the positive and negative equities and found, as an exercise of discretion, that the petitioner was not entitled to relief. As a general rule, federal courts lack jurisdiction to review discretionary decisions denying relief from removal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B) ; see also Ayeni v. Holder, 617 F.3d 67, 70 (1st Cir.2010). But this rule, like virtually every other general rule, admits of exceptions. One such exception inures when the claim presented to a federal court embodies colorable constitutional claims or questions of law. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D) ; see also Castro v. Holder, 727 F.3d 125, 128 (1st Cir.2013) ; Gonzalez–Ruano, 662 F.3d at 63. The petitioner's argument is confused, but we read it (favorably to him) as implying that his case comes within the compass of this exception.
In determining whether a petitioner has raised a colorable constitutional claim or question of law, substance must triumph over form. An alien cannot “transform an unreviewable issue of fact into a reviewable issue of law” by the simple expedient of cloaking what is essentially a factual claim in the raiment of constitutional or legal error. Alvarado v. Holder, 743 F.3d 271, 275 (1st Cir.2014). Put another way, we must look to the meat of the petitioner's arguments, not to the packaging in which they are wrapped. See Ayeni, 617 F.3d at 70–71.
Despite the petitioner's efforts at creative labeling, we discern here no colorable constitutional claim or question of law. In his petition for judicial review and his accompanying brief, the petitioner's argument is quite pointed. He submits that the IJ bungled the decision on special rule cancellation of removal by relying on hearsay evidence (particularly the police reports) to determine that the petitioner did not deserve a favorable exercise of discretion. This was error, the petitioner insists, because the police reports were contradicted by live testimony. Thus, the IJ gave the police reports “too much weight.” And to make a bad situation worse, the IJ (so the petitioner says) failed to assess the “probative value” of the police reports properly, and should have discounted them in the interest of “fundamental fairness.”
We think it readily apparent that the petitioner's attack on the agency's decisionmaking with respect to special rule cancellation of removal is hopelessly factbound. There is no hint of any cognizable constitutional claim or question of law. Rather, the petitioner's plaint...
To continue reading
Request your trial