Case: 21-60857 Document: 00516660898 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/01/2023 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED March 1, 2023 No. 21-60857 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Ahmed Hussain Mana, Petitioner, versus Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent. Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A043 308 602 Before Stewart, Dennis, and Southwick, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam:* Ahmed Hussain Mana seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) decision, adopting and affirming the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) decision, which denied Mana’s application for cancellation of removal and for deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). We DISMISS IN PART and DENY IN PART Mana’s petition for review. * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5. Case: 21-60857 Document: 00516660898 Page: 2 Date Filed: 03/01/2023 No. 21-60857 I. Ahmed Hussain Mana, a native and citizen of Yemen, became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 1992. In February 2015, he was convicted in Louisiana state court of distributing a controlled substance, namely hydrocodone, in violation of La. R.S. 40:967(A)(1) and was sentenced to five years in prison. In March 2020, Mana was charged with being removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(1) for having been convicted of a violation of state or federal law relating to a controlled substance, as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 802, other than a single offense of possession for one’s own use of 30 grams or less of marijuana. Through counsel, Mana admitted the charge and was found to be removable based on his 2015 state drug distribution conviction. He applied for cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(a) as well as protection under the CAT based on his fear of being harmed in Yemen by the current government or due to the general violence there. The IJ denied Mana’s applications for cancellation of removal and CAT protection, ordering his removal to Yemen. The IJ determined that Mana was not credible due to inconsistent and implausible statements within his testimony; inconsistencies between his testimony, his 1996 naturalization application, and his CAT application; and his failure to provide reasonably available corroborating evidence from his relatives. The IJ determined that Mana was not entitled to cancellation of removal or CAT protection due to his lack of credibility. Alternatively, the IJ concluded that Mana was statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal because his 2015 state drug distribution conviction constituted a disqualifying aggravated felony under the drug-trafficking-crime prong, or, alternatively, under the illicit- trafficking-in-a-controlled-substance prong, of 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(B). Additionally, assuming arguendo that Mana testified credibly, the IJ 2 Case: 21-60857 Document: 00516660898 Page: 3 Date Filed: 03/01/2023 No. 21-60857 nevertheless denied his claim for CAT protection based on his failure to demonstrate that such relief was warranted. Mana filed a counseled appeal to the BIA. He asserted that he was eligible for cancellation of removal because his 2015 conviction was neither a drug trafficking …
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