NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 20-2201 ___________ NOEL RICARDO STEPHENS, a/k/a Keith Price, a/k/a Larry Strong, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ____________________________________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A079-073-152) Immigration Judge: Jack H. Weil ____________________________________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) February 19, 2021 Before: MCKEE, SHWARTZ and RESTREPO, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: March 29, 2021) ___________ OPINION * ___________ PER CURIAM Noel Ricardo Stephens petitions for review of the Board of Immigration * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Appeals’ (BIA) order dismissing his appeal from an immigration judge’s (IJ) decision denying his applications for asylum, withholding, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and ordering his removal. For the reasons that follow, we will grant the petition and remand to the BIA for further proceedings. Stephens is a native and citizen of Jamaica who entered the United States as a nonimmigrant in 1999. His status was adjusted to legal permanent resident in May 2004. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to federal drug and weapons charges. See W.D.N.Y. Crim. No. 6:11-cr-06037. As a result, he was charged with removability for having been convicted of an aggravated felony, see 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), a controlled substance offense, see 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i), two crimes involving moral turpitude (“CIMTs”), see 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii), and a firearms offense, see 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(C). He appeared before an immigration judge (IJ) and conceded removability, and the charges were sustained. Stephens applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and for relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). After a hearing, the IJ issued a decision determining that Stephens was convicted of a “particularly serious crime” and, therefore, that he was only eligible for deferral of removal under the CAT. See 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(B)(ii); 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.31, 1208.16(d)(2). Stephens’ CAT claim was predicated on his assertion that he would be subject to torture in Jamaica at the hands of the police or the community because of his status as a bisexual and as an informant for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency. The IJ denied Stephens CAT relief after determining that his testimony was “too vague” to carry the burden of 2 proof on its own and that he had failed to provide reasonably available corroborating evidence. On appeal, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) concluded that Stephens had waived any challenge to the “particularly serious crimes” determination by failing to raise it in his brief. The BIA then expressed its agreement with the IJ that Stephens did not establish eligibility for relief under the CAT. The appeal was dismissed, and this petition for review ensued. We have jurisdiction to review final orders of the BIA pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252. Because Stephens is removable by virtue of his conviction for an aggravated felony, …
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