NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _____________ No. 17-3478 _____________ GIOVANNI VELLA, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent ______________ On Petition for Review from an Order of The Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A017-541-320 Immigration Judge: Hon. Walter A. Durling ______________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) July 12, 2018 ______________ Before: SHWARTZ, ROTH, and RENDELL, Circuit Judges. (Filed: August 2, 2018) ______________ OPINION* ______________ * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. SHWARTZ, Circuit Judge. Giovanni Vella petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his appeal from the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) decision, which denied his application for a waiver of inadmissibility under § 212(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(h). For the reasons that follow, we will deny the petition. I Vella, a native and citizen of Italy, was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident (“LPR”) in 1967, at age twelve. In 2007, he was convicted of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 and was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment. Two years later, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) charged him with removability under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony offense. He was subsequently granted adjustment of status. In 2015, Vella pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a) and was sentenced to twelve months and a day of imprisonment. DHS charged him with removability, and he sought to re-adjust his status to that of an LPR. The IJ sustained the charge of removability and concluded that Vella was not eligible for re-adjustment of his status and could not obtain a waiver of inadmissibility under § 212(h) because he was admitted to the United States as an LPR and thereafter committed an aggravated felony. 2 Vella appealed to the BIA, which sustained the appeal in part and remanded to the IJ. On remand, DHS charged Vella with two additional grounds of removability.1 The IJ sustained the charges and determined that Vella was not eligible for a waiver of inadmissibility under § 212(h) because such relief is available only to aliens who received LPR status after being admitted to the United States, and under Hanif v. Attorney General, 694 F.3d 479, 484 (3d Cir. 2012), Vella was “previously admitted” as an LPR when he entered the United States in 1967, not when he re-adjusted his status in 2009. The IJ thus ordered Vella removed to Italy, and Vella appealed. The BIA dismissed Vella’s appeal. Matter of Giovanni Rosalia Vella, 27 I. & N. Dec. 138, 141 (B.I.A. 2017). The B.I.A. concluded that § 212(h) bars aliens who had “previously been admitted to the United States as an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence” from obtaining a waiver of inadmissibility ...
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