Fabiola Chavez-Sanchez v. Attorney General United States


NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT No. 19-3479 FABIOLA CHAVEZ-SANCHEZ, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA On Petition for Review of a Final Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Immigration Judge: Alice S. Hartye (No. A215-927-913) Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) May 28, 2020 Before: AMBRO, HARDIMAN, and RESTREPO, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: June 11, 2020) OPINION * AMBRO, Circuit Judge * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Petitioner Fabiola Chavez-Sanchez petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). It dismissed her appeal after an immigration judge (“IJ”) denied her claim for relief and ordered her removal. We deny the petition. I. Chavez-Sanchez, a citizen of Mexico, entered the United States without inspection in 2008. In 2017, she gave birth to a son, Oliver. In June 2018, Chavez-Sanchez brought Oliver to the hospital after he had suffered multiple fractures of his legs and arm. The police were notified and the county took custody of Oliver. In January 2019, Chavez- Sanchez was charged criminally for endangering Oliver’s welfare. This brought Chavez-Sanchez to the attention of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), which began removal proceedings, charging her as removable for having entered without inspection. She conceded removability but applied for relief from removal in the forms of cancellation of removal, asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). At a hearing before the IJ, Chavez-Sanchez’s counsel withdrew all applications except the CAT claim. Counsel explained that Chavez-Sanchez “ha[d] a pending criminal charge against her . . . relating to endangerment of child welfare,” and that counsel did not “want to waste court time” by seeking cancellation of removal. A.R. 147. The IJ considered the CAT claim, hearing testimony from Chavez-Sanchez that she feared returning to Mexico because her mother, brother, nephew, and cousin had all been victims of crime there. Specifically, she testified that her mother had been robbed at gunpoint and assaulted, that her brother had been kidnapped and robbed, that her nephew 2 had been robbed and shot at, and that her cousin had been killed by a gang. The IJ denied Chavez-Sanchez’s claim, concluding that, though her testimony was credible, she had not shown it was more likely than not she would be tortured with the acquiescence of the Mexican government if she returned to Mexico. Chavez-Sanchez obtained new counsel and appealed to the BIA. She argued that she had been denied due process because her previous counsel had not submitted evidence regarding her mental health and because the IJ failed to consider statements she made at the hearing that cast doubt on her mental capacity to participate in the removal proceedings. She further argued that she was eligible for cancellation of removal notwithstanding her previous counsel’s withdrawal of that claim. And she claimed that the IJ erred in denying her CAT claim for failing to ...

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