Case: 16-15898 Date Filed: 01/18/2018 Page: 1 of 23 [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 16-15898 ________________________ Agency No. A095-580-030 JIMMY PIERRE, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (January 18, 2018) Case: 16-15898 Date Filed: 01/18/2018 Page: 2 of 23 Before BLACK and HULL, Circuit Judges, and RESTANI, * Judge. HULL, Circuit Judge: Jimmy Pierre, a native and citizen of Haiti, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), which affirmed the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) orders concluding that Pierre was removable and ineligible for cancellation of removal based on his felony conviction for battery of a child by throwing, tossing, projecting, or expelling blood, seminal fluid, urine, or feces, in violation of Florida Statute § 784.085. After review and with the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that the BIA did not err in concluding that (1) Pierre was removable, because his conviction was a crime of child abuse within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i), (2) Pierre was ineligible for cancellation of removal, because his conviction was a crime involving moral turpitude (“CIMT”) within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i), and (3) the IJ did not deprive Pierre of due process by granting the government’s motion to pretermit his application for cancellation of removal. Accordingly, we deny the petition. * Honorable Jane A. Restani, Judge for the United States Court of International Trade, sitting by designation. 2 Case: 16-15898 Date Filed: 01/18/2018 Page: 3 of 23 I. LEGAL BACKGROUND The Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) makes removable “[a]ny alien who at any time after admission is convicted of . . . a crime of child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment.” 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i). As to cancellation of removal, the INA further provides that the Attorney General may cancel the removal of an otherwise deportable alien if the alien (1) has been a lawful permanent resident in the United States for at least five years, (2) has resided in the United States continuously for at least seven years after being admitted in any status, and (3) has not been convicted of an aggravated felony. Id. § 1229b(a). However, as to the second requirement of continuous residence for seven years, “any period of continuous residence or continuous physical presence in the United States shall be deemed to end . . . when the alien has committed” any of several types of offenses, including a “crime involving moral turpitude.” Id. §§ 1229b(d)(1), 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). Pierre’s Florida conviction occurred before he had resided here continuously for seven years, triggering the “stop time rule” in the second requirement if his conviction was a CIMT. Accordingly, all parties agree that (1) Pierre is removable if he was convicted of a crime of child abuse, and (2) he is not eligible for cancellation of removal if he was convicted of a CIMT. The primary dispute in ...
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