PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT No. 20-2651 ANTONIO DEJESUS NUNEZ, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA-1: A061-038-927) Immigration Judge: Jason Pope Argued April 21, 2021 Before: AMBRO, RESTREPO, Circuit Judges, and NOREIKA, ∗ District Judge (Opinion Filed: May 26, 2022) ∗ The Honorable Maryellen Noreika, United States District Judge for the District of Delaware, sitting by designation. Thomas E. Moseley (Argued) One Gateway Center Suite 2600 Newark, NJ 07102 Counsel for Petitioner Jeffrey Bossert Clark John W. Blakely Elizabeth Fitzgerald-Sambou (Argued) Office of Immigration Litigation U.S. Department of Justice P.O. Box 878, Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Appellee OPINION OF THE COURT NOREIKA, District Judge Petitioner Antonio DeJesus Nunez seeks review of a final order by the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissing his appeal from an Immigration Judge’s determination that he is removable from the United States and ineligible for cancellation of removal. For the following reasons, the petition will be denied. 2 I. Background Nunez is a fifty-two-year-old native and citizen of the Dominican Republic who, since February 2010, has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States. In March 2019, he was charged in the Superior Court of New Jersey with four crimes. 1 According to the charging documents, between January 1, 2013 and December 3, 2018, Nunez used physical force or coercion to “grab the victim’s breast over the clothing for means of sexual gratification,” “expos[ed] his bare penis to the victim while in the bathroom of the victim’s residence,” and engaged in “sexual conduct which impaired or debauched the morals of the victim.” A.R. 566–67. Nunez was between forty-three and forty-nine years old during this time and the victim was between eight and fourteen years old. In May 2019, Nunez pled guilty to and was convicted of one count of endangering the welfare of a child in the third degree, in violation of N.J. Stat. § 2C:24-4(a)(1). That statute prohibits “engag[ing] in sexual conduct which would impair or debauch the morals of [a] child.” N.J. Stat. § 2C:24-4(a)(1). He was sentenced to time served of 168 days of imprisonment. A. Proceedings Before the Immigration Court The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) initiated removal proceedings against Nunez on September 23, 1 Nunez was charged with violating N.J. Stat. § 2C:14-2b (sexual assault with a victim less than 13 years old where the actor is at least four years older than the victim), § 2C:24- 4a(1) (endangering the welfare of a child), § 2C:14-3b criminal sexual contact), and § 2C:14-4b(1) (lewdness). 3 2019 by filing a Notice to Appear (“NTA”) with the Immigration Court. The NTA charged Nunez with removability under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i), which provides in relevant part that “[a]ny alien who at any time after admission is convicted of . . . a crime of child abuse . . . is deportable.” 2 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(i). Factual …
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