NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 18-2494 ___________ FERNANDO FERNANDEZ DOMINGUEZ, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ____________________________________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A023-324-819) Immigration Judge: Lisa de Cardona ____________________________________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) March 15, 2019 Before: GREENAWAY, JR., RESTREPO and FUENTES, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: November 8, 2019) ___________ OPINION* ___________ PER CURIAM * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Fernando Fernandez Dominguez, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, petitions for review of a final order of removal. For the following reasons, we will deny the petition. Fernandez Dominguez has a long history in the United States, the details of which are documented in the administrative record and detailed in the decisions of the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) and the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). Because the parties are familiar with the record, we provide only a brief summary here. Fernandez Dominguez entered the United States in 1973 as a temporary visitor and became a lawful permanent resident in 1980. In 1992, he pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine (21 U.S.C. § 846). In light of his substantial assistance to United States law enforcement, he received a downward departure at sentencing and was sentenced to fifty-one months. He was placed in deportation proceedings. The agency determined that he had been convicted of an aggravated felony and controlled substance violation and was found removable as charged. Pursuant to a 1994 final removal order, Fernandez Dominguez was deported to the Dominican Republic. In 1999, and again in 2004, Fernandez Dominguez was paroled into the United States to act as an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). He worked as part of the inner circle of drug gang operatives and then provided advance information to his DEA handler and other agents on large-scale scheduled drug trafficking activities, assisting in the capture of several specific targets. His parole in 2004 was for a one-year period, but he has remained in the United States since then. 2 In 2017, Fernandez Dominguez was arrested by immigration authorities. He was charged with removability as an alien without a valid immigrant visa or entry document, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I). He conceded removability but applied for withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3) and withholding or deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), see 8 C.F.R. § 1208.17(a). He based his claims for relief on his fear of retaliation by a number of named Dominican drug criminals, in light of his role in aiding their prosecutions. He testified before an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) as to the specifics of his cooperation and his fears of harm, along with reasons why he believes that Dominican law enforcement officers ...
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