NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ____________ No. 22-2904 ___________ ALEX MONDAY ASUQUO ITA, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ____________ On Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A203-093-648) Immigration Judge: David W. Crosland ____________ Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) (April 18, 2023) Before: HARDIMAN, PORTER, and FISHER, Circuit Judges (Filed: April 26, 2023) ____________ OPINION * ____________ HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge. Alex Monday Asuquo Ita petitions for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. decision rejecting his application for deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). We will deny his petition. I Ita is a native and citizen of Nigeria. He became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2010. But after a series of arrests and drug convictions, the Department of Homeland Security began removal proceedings against him. Ita applied for CAT deferral, arguing that the Nigerian government would torture him due to his drug addiction and mental health problems. At a hearing before the Immigration Judge, Ita testified that he suffered serious sexual abuse as a child. He said he received no psychological assistance for the resulting trauma, so he turned to drugs in 2006 to “keep [his] emotion[s] together.” AR 117. Ita did drugs “every day.” Id. Though medicated for depression, he never sought or received treatment for his drug abuse apart from a few court-ordered classes. He has been regularly employed, but “cannot do anything without having drugs.” AR 118–19. Ita said that he “[a]bsolutely” would keep using drugs if removed. AR 133. And he believes no treatment for his addiction is available in Nigeria. Shannon Lockhart, a licensed clinical social worker, also testified on behalf of Ita. She diagnosed Ita with severe substance use disorder, PTSD, major depression, and general anxiety disorder. And she said Ita would need proper medical and psychological care—including inpatient treatment—to withdraw from drugs. But she opined that Nigeria’s capacity to treat patients with a drug abuse history like Ita’s was “far below the minimal standard of care.” AR 206. Lockhart concluded that Ita stood in “grave jeopardy 2 of being declared a civil lunatic” under Nigeria’s involuntary commitment laws, AR 484 (emphasis omitted), of becoming a target of Nigeria’s police, and of being tortured. Dr. Gboyega Abikoye, a Nigerian clinical psychologist who specializes in drug and behavior addiction, also testified for Ita. He testified that Nigeria offers few forms of drug-abuse treatment, and that affordable treatment centers are inadequate. Abikoye concluded that Ita’s condition is “going to get worse” in Nigeria, AR 383, and his drug use would eventually get him arrested. Abikoye testified that Nigerian police often arrest drug violators and negotiate with the arrestee’s family for bribes in exchange for release. The police torture or even kill arrestees who say they cannot pay. The IJ denied Ita’s …
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