PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ____________ No. 18-1699 ____________ LUDIMILLA RAMOS DA SILVA a/k/a Lulu Da Silva a/k/a Ludimilla Dasilva, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency Nos. A208-332-187) Immigration Judge: John B. Carle Argued on July 9, 2019 Before: MCKEE, ROTH and RENDELL, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: January 24, 2020) Thomas M. Griffin (Argued) Surin & Griffin 718 Arch Street Suite 701N Philadelphia, PA 19106 Counsel for Petitioner Scott G. Stewart (Argued) United States Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20530 Stefanie A. Svoren-Jay United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation P.O. Box 878 Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Respondent OPINION ROTH, Circuit Judge: Appellant Ludimilla Ramos Da Silva petitions for review of her final order of removal. She contends that the Board of Immigration Appeals erred when it concluded that her convictions for assaulting her husband’s mistress were not 2 “connected to” the extreme cruelty she suffered, rendering her ineligible for cancellation of removal. We agree. For the reasons that follow, we will grant Da Silva’s petition for review and vacate the BIA’s removal order. I Da Silva, a native of Brazil, was admitted to the United States in 1994 with a B-2 visa; she was then about two years old. She overstayed her visa and has never left the United States. Da Silva married a United States citizen, Aziim Leach, on April 30, 2012. Leach, a member of the armed services, subjected Da Silva to emotional, psychological, and physical abuse throughout their marriage. For instance, he refused to file immigration paperwork that would provide her with documented status and used her undocumented status as a method to control her. Leach also hit Da Silva’s daughter and pushed Da Silva against a wall multiple times.1 Most importantly to this appeal, Leach engaged in numerous extramarital affairs, including one particularly intense relationship with his coworker, L.N. On September 1, 2014, Da Silva discovered sexually explicit text messages 1 Da Silva has been subjected to abuse throughout her life. She was raised by a single mother, who inflicted physical and emotional harm upon her children until she abandoned Da Silva and her siblings. When she was fifteen, she was raped at a friend’s house. She met and married her first husband at age eighteen and he, like Leach, was physically and emotionally abusive. Following her first divorce, Da Silva began seeing a mental health counselor, who diagnosed her with post- traumatic stress disorder. 3 between Leach and L.N. Da Silva questioned Leach about the messages and called L.N. to arrange a meeting at L.N.’s house so they could talk. When Da Silva arrived, L.N. got into Da Silva’s car, and Da Silva confronted L.N. with the text messages. Da Silva claimed she feared that L.N. was about to hit her so she punched L.N. in the nose. Next, L.N. proposed that ...
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