NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 19a0268n.06 No. 18-3684 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED May 23, 2019 JOHN ISHAC, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ) Petitioner, ) ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW v. ) FROM THE UNITED STATES ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, ) APPEALS ) Respondent. ) ) Before: MERRITT and LARSEN, Circuit Judges.* LARSEN, Circuit Judge. In 2006, an immigration judge (IJ) ordered John Ishac removed from the United States to Iraq. Ishac successfully petitioned to reopen his removal proceedings in 2017 to seek withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). But in February 2018, the IJ denied Ishac’s applications for relief after concluding that Ishac had not met his burden of showing that he would be persecuted or tortured in Iraq. Ishac appealed the IJ’s decision and, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, also moved the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to remand the case for the IJ to consider additional evidence and to allow him to apply for cancellation of removal. The BIA dismissed Ishac’s appeal and denied his motion to remand. Ishac now petitions this court for review of the BIA’s decision. For the following reasons, we DENY in part and GRANT in part the petition for review. * The third member of this panel, Judge Damon J. Keith, died on April 28, 2019. This order is entered by the quorum of the panel. 28 U.S.C. § 46(d). No. 18-3684, Ishac v. Barr I. John Ishac was born in 1980 to a Lebanese mother and an Iraqi father staying in Greece as temporary refugees. When two months old, Ishac and his parents entered the United States as refugees. He became a lawful permanent resident in 1982. His parents both became naturalized United States citizens. In October 2001, Ishac was convicted of attempting to carry a concealed weapon (a pistol), in violation of Mich. Comp. Laws (MCL) § 750.227. Two months later, he was convicted of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated—his second such offense—in violation of MCL § 257.625(3). In June 2002, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued Ishac a notice to appear before an IJ to answer the charge that he was removable, under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(C), as an alien convicted of a firearm offense. After Ishac picked up additional convictions in November 2002 for attempted possession of a controlled substance (ecstasy), in violation of MCL § 333.7403(2)(b)(ii), and for attempted fleeing (4th degree), in violation of MCL § 257.602a(2), DHS added an additional removal charge against him, under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i), as an alien convicted of a controlled substance offense. Ishac conceded removability via counsel and applied for cancellation of removal as a legal permanent resident under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(a). The IJ determined that Ishac did not merit cancellation of removal, largely because Ishac had continued to use drugs and had violated his probation during the removal proceedings. In December 2006, the IJ ordered him removed ...
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