Case: 18-60449 Document: 00515351988 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/19/2020 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 18-60449 March 19, 2020 Lyle W. Cayce IVAN ALEXANDROVICH VETCHER, Clerk Petitioner v. WILLIAM P. BARR, U. S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Before HIGGINBOTHAM, STEWART, and ENGELHARDT, Circuit Judges. CARL E. STEWART, Circuit Judge: Petitioner Ivan Vetcher (“Vetcher”) contests his detention and removal pursuant to Section 241 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) (8 U.S.C. § 1231) and Section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. § 812). He seeks review of the May 11, 2018 decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) that affirmed the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) decision ordering his removal from the United States. For the reasons set forth herein, we DENY Vetcher’s petition for cancellation of removal. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Facts Vetcher is a 29 year-old native of Belarus whose family fled to the United States in 2001 as refugees; he was 11 years old at the time. He became a lawful Case: 18-60449 Document: 00515351988 Page: 2 Date Filed: 03/19/2020 No. 18-60449 resident in 2005 at the age of 15. He is married to an American citizen with whom he shares a 5 year-old son and two step-children from his wife’s previous relationship. In 2009, 2011, and 2012, Vetcher was arrested on charges including burglary, obstruction of justice, and obstructing police. In April 2014, Vetcher was arrested for selling psychedelic/hallucinogenic mushrooms. Vetcher pled guilty to two counts of “deliver[ing], by actual transfer, constructive transfer and offer to sell to another, a controlled substance, namely, psilocybin/psilocin, in an amount of four grams or more but less than 400 grams,” pursuant to Texas Health & Safety Code § 481.113(d). In May 2014, Vetcher was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment on each count to run concurrently, though each sentence was fully suspended in favor of a ten-year period of community supervision. On July 2, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) personally served Vetcher with a notice to appear (“NTA”). It notified Vetcher of his removability based upon the April 2014 drug trafficking conviction and ordered him to appear at removal proceedings before an IJ in Dallas, Texas, on a “date and time to be set.” Vetcher was detained pending his removal proceedings, and the NTA was filed with the immigration court on July 8, 2014. On July 10, 2014, the immigration court issued Vetcher a “notice of hearing” scheduling his initial hearing before the IJ for July 17, 2014 at 8:30 a.m. B. Procedural History The DHS charged Vetcher with deportability as an alien charged with an “aggravated felony.” In its August 6, 2014 decision, the IJ sustained the aggravated felony charge and found Vetcher ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal on the basis that the aggravated felony charge was a “particularly serious crime.” Filing pro se, Vetcher appealed ...
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