Ben Turay v. Attorney General United States


NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ________________ No. 19-2347 ________________ BEN TURAY, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ________________ On Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (A045-234-090) Immigration Judge: John P. Ellington ________________ Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) January 16, 2020 Before: JORDAN, GREENAWAY, JR., and KRAUSE, Circuit Judges. (Opinion filed: January 17, 2020) ________________ OPINION* ________________ * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. KRAUSE, Circuit Judge. Ben Turay, a lawful permanent resident charged with removability due to a controlled substance conviction,1 petitions for review of a final administrative order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying his application for cancellation of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(a). We will deny the petition. Discussion2 On appeal, Turay raises a single argument: that his procedural due process rights were violated when his 15-year-old daughter was not able to give live testimony at his merits hearing before an Immigration Judge (IJ) due to prison rules barring her from the building. To prevail on procedural due process claims arising from removal proceedings, a petitioner must show “substantial prejudice,” meaning that “the infraction has the potential for affecting the outcome of the deportation proceedings.” Serrano-Alberto v. Att’y Gen., 859 F.3d 208, 213 (3d Cir. 2017) (alteration omitted) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Turay makes two arguments in support of substantial prejudice but, even assuming a due process violation occurred, neither meets that standard. First, Turay argues that his daughter’s live testimony “had much to add to his case” and that she would have testified about “the relationship she had with her father and the 1 Turay conceded the legal and factual basis for his removability below and does not challenge his removability in this appeal. 2 We lack “jurisdiction to review the denial of discretionary relief, including cancellation of removal.” Pareja v. Att’y Gen., 615 F.3d 180, 186 (3d Cir. 2010). “We may, however, review ‘constitutional claims or questions of law raised upon a petition for review.’” Id. (quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D)). We review the BIA’s decisions of law de novo. Castro v. Att’y Gen., 671 F.3d 356, 365 (3d Cir. 2012). 2 hardship she would suffer if he was removed.” Pet.’s Br. 27, 28–29. But the daughter’s written statement did discuss her relationship with her father and the hardship she would suffer if he was removed: It discussed her father’s role in her life, her desire to keep him home, and the concrete ways he took care of her and her family and looked out for their safety. And Turay does not suggest any specific material evidence that his daughter’s live testimony would have added to the record. This lack of specificity about what, precisely, her testimony would have added dooms his prejudice argument. Cf. Singh v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 533, 541 (3d Cir. 2006) (finding no prejudice resulted from petitioner’s alleged ...

Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals