Edgar Perez-Bujdud v. Merrick B. Garland


NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604 Submitted August 3, 2021* Decided August 9, 2021 Before DIANE S. SYKES, Chief Judge MICHAEL B. BRENNAN, Circuit Judge AMY J. ST. EVE, Circuit Judge No. 20-3446 EDGAR PEREZ-BUJDUD, Petition for Review of an Order of the Petitioner, Board of Immigration Appeals. v. No. A200-144-105 MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General of the United States, Respondent. ORDER Edgar Perez-Bujdud, a 45-year-old Mexican citizen whose application for cancellation of removal was denied, petitions us to review the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of his motion to reopen his removal proceedings. He sought reopening on two grounds: first, because he had new and material evidence concerning the hardship his removal would cause his then-minor daughter, and second, because he wished to pursue asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Because we lack jurisdiction to review the Board’s *We granted the parties’ joint motion to waive oral argument so this appeal is submitted on the briefs and the record. FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2)(C). No. 20-3446 Page 2 discretionary ruling on hardship, we dismiss the petition as to Perez-Bujdud’s request to reopen his cancellation-of-removal proceedings. We deny the remainder of the petition because the Board did not abuse its discretion in denying reopening. Background Perez-Bujdud overstayed his visa after entering the country as a visitor in 1997. He has two children: a daughter, born in 2003 to a U.S.-citizen mother, and a son, born in 1996 to a non-citizen mother. In 2012, he was served with a Notice to Appear and charged as removable because he had not been lawfully admitted or paroled into the country. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). In 2014, he applied for cancellation of removal on the basis that his removal would cause “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to his then-11-year-old, U.S.-citizen daughter. 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(D). At a hearing before an immigration judge in 2018, Perez-Bujdud, his daughter (then 15), and his daughter’s mother testified about this hardship. They testified Perez-Bujdud did not have full custody of his daughter, but his relationship with her was close: He saw her almost every weekend, they spoke during the week, and he attended all her sporting events and school conferences. Perez-Bujdud also financially supported her, paying about $300 in monthly child support and an additional $120 a month to purchase school supplies, clothes, and other necessities. If he were removed, Perez-Bujdud said, he could not continue his financial support, and his daughter’s mother would not be able to sustain her lifestyle alone. Both parents expressed concern that Perez-Bujdud’s removal would emotionally harm their daughter, and his daughter testified that she “could go into deep depression” if her father were not in her life. The IJ denied the application for cancellation of removal and ordered Perez- Bujdud removed. Although he met the residency and moral-character prerequisites for cancellation, the IJ found Perez-Bujdud …

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