NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 21a0344n.06 No. 20-4069 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT ) FILED ARMANDO VELASQUEZ-PEREZ, Jul 16, 2021 ) ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk Petitioner, ) ) v. ON PETITION FOR REVIEW ) ) FROM THE BOARD OF MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, IMMIGRATION APPEALS ) ) Respondent. ) Before: BATCHELDER, KETHLEDGE, and THAPAR, Circuit Judges. KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge. Armando Gomez Velasquez, also known as Armando Velasquez-Perez, is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States without inspection in 2002. Sixteen years later, an immigration judge ordered him removed, finding (among other things) that Velasquez’s removal to Guatemala would not cause “exceptional or extremely unusual hardship” to his children. The Board of Immigration Appeals agreed and denied relief. We likewise agree, and deny the petition. Velasquez and his wife—who likewise entered the United States without inspection—have four children who are U.S. citizens. In July 2012, Velasquez was convicted of assaulting a security guard. The Department of Homeland Security served Velasquez with a notice to appear for removal proceedings, charging him as an “alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled.” 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). While those proceedings remained pending, Velasquez was convicted of driving while intoxicated. No. 20-4069, Velasquez-Perez v. Garland Velasquez thereafter conceded his removability but applied for cancellation of removal. To be eligible for cancellation, Velasquez needed to establish that he had been “physically present in the United States for a continuous period” of at least 10 years; that during that period he had shown “good moral character”; that he had not been convicted of an offense enumerated in §§ 1182(a)(2) or 1227(a)(2)–(3); and that his “removal would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to a qualifying relative (here, his children). Id. § 1229b(b)(1). At his removal hearing, Velasquez testified that, if he were removed, his wife and children would move to Guatemala; that he could not financially support them there; and that his children would struggle socially and educationally in Guatemala. Velasquez also addressed his criminal history. Initially, he disclosed only that he had been arrested for assault and drunk driving. But under further questioning he eventually admitted that he had also been arrested for driving without a license, indecent exposure, public intoxication, and violating an open-container law. The IJ first determined that Velasquez had not shown “good moral character,” given his “long history of alcohol-related offenses” and his unwillingness to disclose them during his hearing. The IJ also found that Velasquez’s children would not suffer “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” in Guatemala. The Board denied relief. This petition followed. Where, as here, the Board “reviews the immigration judge’s decision and issues a separate opinion,” we review the Board’s decision “as the final agency determination.” Khalili v. Holder, 557 F.3d 429, 435 (6th Cir. 2009). Here, the Board’s decision rested only on the absence of exceptional hardship to Velasquez’s children. Velasquez challenges the Board’s application of the hardship standard to the IJ’s factual findings. We recently …
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