NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 17-2194 ___________ JOSE ANDRES CANTARERO, AKA Manuel De Dios De Dios, AKA Jose Cantarero-Lainez, AKA Jose Cantarego-Lainez, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent ____________________________________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A095-041-758) Immigration Judge: Honorable Leo A. Finston ____________________________________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) May 24, 2018 Before: JORDAN, RESTREPO and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: May 25, 2018) ___________ OPINION* ___________ PER CURIAM Jose Andres Cantarero petitions for review of his order of removal to El Salvador. We will deny the petition. * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not I. Cantarero is a citizen of El Salvador who entered the United States without valid documents. While here, he obtained temporary protected status (“TPS”) following an earthquake in El Salvador. In 2013, Cantarero was arrested and charged with felonious third-degree assault by automobile in violation of N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:12-1(c)(2). The Government inquired into Cantarero’s arrest and then revoked his TPS status when he failed to respond. Cantarero ultimately was convicted of the charge and sentenced to three years in prison. Cantarero’s felony conviction renders him ineligible for reinstatement of his TPS status. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(c)(2)(B)(i). After revoking Cantarero’s TPS status, the Government charged him as removable for being in the United States without valid documents, and the matter was referred to an Immigration Judge (“IJ”). Cantarero conceded the charge but, through counsel, he applied for withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). (He also initially applied for asylum, but his request for asylum was untimely and his counsel later withdrew it on that basis.) Cantarero claimed that the El Salvadoran army forcibly conscripted him during a civil war when he was a minor and then mistreated him before he fled the country in 1995. He further claimed that he faces persecution and torture for desertion if he returns. Cantarero sought several continuances before the IJ on the ground that he was challenging his New Jersey conviction in a post-conviction relief (“PCR”) petition which, constitute binding precedent. 2 if successful, may have permitted him to seek reinstatement of his TPS status. The IJ denied Cantarero’s final request. The matter then proceeded to a hearing before a different IJ, and Cantarero testified and offered evidence in support of his claims. The IJ found Cantarero credible but denied his applications for relief and ordered his removal to El Salvador. Cantarero appealed pro se and presented new evidence to the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”). The BIA dismissed Cantarero’s appeal and declined to remand for consideration of his new evidence. Cantarero petitions for review pro se.1 II. Cantarero has not raised any specific challenge to the BIA’s ruling in his brief. As the Government argues, we could deem any such challenges waived for that reason. Nevertheless, we liberally construe ...
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