United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 18-1531 ___________________________ Alvaro Cruz Rodriguez, also known as Juan Javier Cruz Rodriguez lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner v. William P. Barr, Attorney General of the United States lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent ___________________________ No. 18-3164 ___________________________ Alvaro Cruz Rodriguez, also known as Juan Javier Cruz Rodriguez lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner v. William P. Barr, Attorney General of the United States lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent ____________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ____________ Submitted: October 15, 2019 Filed: March 16, 2020 ____________ Before COLLOTON, BEAM, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. ____________ BEAM, Circuit Judge. In this consolidated appeal, Alvaro Cruz Rodriguez petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) denial of his application for cancellation of removal (No. 18-1531) and denial of his motion to reopen and reconsider (No. 18- 3164). For the reasons stated herein, we deny each petition. I. BACKGROUND Petitioner Rodriguez entered the United States in 1998 without inspection or admission and lived in the Minneapolis area with his common-law wife, Rosa, and two of his three children, ages 20, 18, and 16 (at the time of the proceedings before the immigration judge (IJ)). He owned a home and was the primary breadwinner of the household. When he arrived in the United States, Rodriguez worked with temporary agencies and then in the restaurant industry, moving up the chain of command at Perkins in the Minneapolis area. Rodriguez ultimately owned his own restaurant in St. Paul where he employed as many as ten people at one time. Rodriguez paid taxes in the United States and did, for many years, allegedly claim as dependents individuals who might not have been appropriately claimed, thus potentially receiving tax refunds not due; one key topic of discussion before the IJ and the BIA. Rodriguez’s oldest child is a citizen of Mexico and his youngest two children are United States citizens. Rodriguez’s testimony before the IJ, in part, focused on his claim that a hardship would result from his deportation, as he explained that his youngest daughter suffered from mental illness and that she would especially suffer if he were removed and unable to assist in her support and care. His daughter suffers from severe mental health issues including depression, panic attacks, insomnia, symptoms of agoraphobia and bouts of self-destructive behavior and violence toward -2- others. All of her symptoms increased with the stress of her father’s deportation proceedings and his absence from the family. A treating psychologist testified about the daughter’s illness at the hearing before the IJ, but acknowledged that the daughter feared leaving the home and would sometimes miss her therapy appointments. The IJ noted that in June 2017, Rodriguez was arrested for alleged domestic assault. There were accusations of a violent altercation with Rosa. He was alleged to have choked her and threw her to the ground inside the restaurant. Objects were thrown and Rosa was physically injured with scrapes and bruises. The IJ reported three misdemeanor domestic assault charges pending and there were also prior ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals