In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit ____________________ No. 20-1078 CESAR MARTINEZ-BAEZ, Petitioner, v. MONTY WILKINSON, Acting Attorney General of the United States, Respondent. ____________________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. No. A200-778-427 ____________________ ARGUED SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 — DECIDED FEBRUARY 1, 2021 ____________________ Before FLAUM, ROVNER, and WOOD, Circuit Judges. WOOD, Circuit Judge. Cesar Martinez-Baez has been fighting to remain in the United States ever since April 5, 2011, when he first received notice of removal proceedings from the immigration authorities. Martinez-Baez concedes that he is removable, but he maintains that he is entitled to be 2 No. 20-1078 considered for discretionary cancellation of removal under section 240A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b). The immigration judge did not see mat- ters that way, finding instead that Martinez-Baez had not es- tablished either of the legal prerequisites for cancellation: 10 years of continuous presence or exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to a U.S. citizen relative. The Board of Im- migration Appeals affirmed, and Martinez-Baez has now pe- titioned this court for review. We conclude that the Board was too quick to deny relief. The IJ erred procedurally by failing to resolve whether Martinez-Baez’s testimony about the most important fact in this case—his date of entry—was credible. In addition, the IJ and Board mischaracterized the evidence pertaining to the asserted hardship. We therefore grant the petition and remand for further proceedings. I Martinez-Baez was born in Veracruz, Mexico, in 1980. As he tells it, in the summer of 2000 he unlawfully crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. The exact date of his initial entry is un- clear. The government agrees, however, that border patrol agents apprehended Martinez-Baez and returned him to Mexico three times in June of 2000. Martinez-Baez testified that after his third return, he again slipped back into the coun- try and at last succeeded in remaining undetected. If that is true, then the starting point for his stay in the United States is around late June or July of 2000. After crossing the border, Martinez-Baez headed north to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, which is located about an hour north-northwest of Chicago. There he purchased a social No. 20-1078 3 security and work permit card for $60 under the assumed name of Waldemar Oquendo. He soon began working at a plastics factory, where he remained for more than seven years. The first time he filed a federal tax return was in 2002. Martinez-Baez settled in Lake Geneva and eventually had three U.S.-citizen children with his partner. His youngest daughter, Melanie, was born in January of 2012. Since starting kindergarten, Melanie has experienced speech and language impairments that make it difficult for her to communicate and to understand directions. As it was required to do, the Lake Geneva School system created an Individualized Education Program (“IEP”) for Melanie. See Wisc. Stat. §§ 115.76(9), 115.787; Wisc. Admin. Code PI 11.36(5)(a). Eight months before Melanie was born, the Department ...
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