Paredes Moscoso v. Garland
Paredes Moscoso v. Garland
Opinion
20-1525 Paredes Moscoso v. Garland BIA Straus, IJ A208 113 473 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
SUMMARY ORDER
RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT=S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING TO A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.
At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 29th day of September, two thousand twenty-one.
PRESENT: RICHARD C. WESLEY, RICHARD J. SULLIVAN, Circuit Judges, JOHN G. KOELTL, District Judge.* _____________________________________
GONZALO IVAN PAREDES MOSCOSO, Petitioner,
v. 20-1525
MERRICK B. GARLAND, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL,
* Judge John G. Koeltl, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation. Respondent. _____________________________________
FOR PETITIONER: Erin O’Neil-Baker, Esq., O’Neil Baker Law, LLC, Hartford, CT.
FOR RESPONDENT: Brian Boynton, Acting Assistant Attorney General; Sabatino F. Leo, Assistant Director; Corey L. Farrell, Trial Attorney, Office of Immigration Litigation, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
UPON DUE CONSIDERATION of this petition for review of a Board of
Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) decision, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED,
AND DECREED that the petition for review is DISMISSED.
Petitioner Gonzalo Ivan Paredes Moscoso, a native and citizen of Ecuador,
seeks review of a decision of the BIA affirming a decision of an Immigration Judge
denying his application for cancellation of removal. In re Gonzalo Ivan Paredes
Moscoso, No. A208 113 473 (B.I.A. Apr. 24, 2020), aff’g No. 208 113 473 (Immig. Ct.
Hartford July 10, 2018). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying
facts and procedural history, to which we refer only as necessary to resolve the
petition.
We review the IJ’s decision “as supplemented by the BIA.” Chen v. Gonzales,
417 F.3d 268, 271(2d Cir. 2005). Parades Moscoso is a nonpermanent resident, so
2 the BIA may, in its discretion, cancel his removal if he “establishes that removal
would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to” a qualifying
relative, 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(D), and satisfies various other criteria not at issue
here, id. § 1229b(b)(1)(A)–(C). To meet the demanding “exceptional and extremely
unusual hardship” standard, an applicant must show that “qualifying relatives
would suffer hardship that is substantially different from, or beyond, that which
would normally be expected from the deportation of an alien with close family
members here.” In re Monreal-Aguinaga,
23 I. & N. Dec. 56, 65(B.I.A. 2001); see also
In re Andazola-Rivas,
23 I. & N. Dec. 319, 322(B.I.A. 2002) (noting that exceptional
and extremely unusual hardship is a “very high standard”).
Importantly, our jurisdiction to review the BIA’s denial of cancellation on
hardship grounds is limited to constitutional claims and questions of law.
8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i), (D); Barco-Sandoval v. Gonzales,
516 F.3d 35, 36, 38–40 (2d Cir.
2008). A question of law arises where the agency “overlooked” or “seriously
mischaracterized” multiple significant pieces of evidence, Mendez v. Holder,
566 F.3d 316, 323(2d Cir. 2009), considered a prohibited factor, Argueta v. Holder,
617 F.3d 109, 113(2d Cir. 2010), or applied “a legally erroneous standard,” Barco-
Sandoval,
516 F.3d at 39(citation omitted). We are not free to resolve quarrels over
3 fact-finding or the weight the BIA assigned to various facts. See
id.at 39–40.
Here, Paredes Moscoso asserts that his U.S.-citizen sons suffer from medical
problems and learning difficulties that will be exacerbated if Paredes Moscoso is
removed, and he argues that the BIA’s “factfinding was an abuse of discretion
because it was made without rational justification or based on a legally erroneous
standard.” Paredes Moscoso Br. at 11–12 (quotation marks omitted). In particular,
he derides the agency’s determination that his sons’ medical and school records
did not reveal any significant medical issues or learning disabilities. Id. at 12. But
Paredes Moscoso does not identify any evidence that the BIA “totally overlooked”
or “seriously mischaracterized,” Mendez,
566 F.3d at 323, and a careful review of
the record reveals nothing to corroborate his assertion that one son has a
documented learning disability, that the other son has a heart condition and cystic
fibrosis, or that either son has a serious medical condition. See Matter of J-J-G-,
27 I. & N. Dec. 808, 811(B.I.A. 2020) (holding that “to the extent that a claim is based
on the health of a qualifying relative, an applicant needs to establish that the
relative has a serious medical condition”).
Though the outer bounds of our jurisdiction to correct errors of law permit
us to intervene when the BIA has overlooked or egregiously mischaracterized
4 multiple significant facts, that has not happened here. Mendez,
566 F.3d at 323. We
therefore lack jurisdiction to review Paredes Moscoso’s objections to the agency’s
fact-finding and its choices in weighing the evidence. See Barco-Sandoval,
516 F.3d at 39; Xiao Ji Chen v. DOJ,
471 F.3d 315, 329–32, 342 (2d Cir. 2006).
For the foregoing reasons, the petition for review is DISMISSED.
FOR THE COURT: Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk of Court
5
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished