FILED United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit PUBLISH December 7, 2020 Christopher M. Wolpert UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Clerk of Court TENTH CIRCUIT ESEOS OSA IGIEBOR, Petitioner, v. No. 19-9579 WILLIAM P. BARR, United States Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted on the briefs: * Michael E. Ward, Alston & Bird LLP, Washington, D.C., on the briefs for Petitioner. Joseph H. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General; Ethan P. Davis, Acting Assistant Attorney General; Jeffrey Bossert, Acting Assistant Attorney General; John S. Hogan, Assistant Director; John W. Blakeley, Assistant Director; Laura M.L. Maroldy, Trial Attorney; Christina R. Zeidan, Trial Attorney; W. Manning Evans, Sr. Litigation Counsel; Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., on the briefs for Respondent. * After examining the parties’ briefs and the administrative record, this panel determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). Accordingly, on October 27, 2020, this court entered an order submitting the petition without oral argument. Before TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge, BRISCOE, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. MURPHY, Circuit Judge. I. INTRODUCTION Eseos Igiebor, a citizen and native of Nigeria, entered the United States as a visitor in 1998. He became a lawful permanent resident (“LPR”) in 2004. In 2014, he pleaded guilty to (1) aggravated identity theft, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 1028A and (2) conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and bank fraud, id. §§ 1341, 1343, 1344, 1349. He was sentenced to ninety-six months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution. The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) initiated removal proceedings against Igiebor in 2018. 1 Igiebor conceded removability, but sought deferral of removal pursuant to the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). See 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3); 8 C.F.R. §§ 1208.16–1208.18. He asserted that due to his status as a homosexual, he would be tortured if removed to Nigeria. An immigration judge (“IJ”) concluded Igiebor’s testimony was not credible and found Igiebor failed to show it is more likely than not he would be 1 See 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(iii) (“Any alien who is convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after admission is deportable.”); id. § 1101(a)(43)(M), (a)(43)(U) (providing that the term “aggravated felony” includes fraud or deceit offenses, as well as conspiracies to commit such offenses, where the loss to the victim, including the government, exceeds $10,000). -2- tortured if returned to Nigeria. The Bureau of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) determined the IJ did not commit clear error in finding Igiebor not credible and, given that adverse credibility determination, the IJ correctly found Igiebor did not carry his burden of proving it was more likely than not he would be tortured if returned to Nigeria. Igiebor petitions for review, challenging several aspects of the BIA’s decision. This court has jurisdiction to reach the merits of Igiebor’s petition. Although he was removed to Nigeria during the pendency of this ...
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