Case: 18-10546 Date Filed: 03/08/2019 Page: 1 of 7 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 18-10546 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A060-126-661 MIKHAIL ABAM WATSON, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (March 8, 2019) Before MARCUS, ROSENBAUM and HULL, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 18-10546 Date Filed: 03/08/2019 Page: 2 of 7 Mikhail Watson, an alien previously convicted of drug and firearm offenses, seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) final order of removal affirming the Immigration Judge’s denial of Watson’s application for asylum and withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) and for protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). After review, we dismiss Watson’s petition for review for lack of jurisdiction. I. BACKGROUND FACTS Watson is a native and citizen of Jamaica who was living in the United States as a lawful permanent resident. In 2015, Watson was convicted in Florida state court of carrying a concealed firearm and of conspiring to traffic, and delivering, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (“MDMA”), for which he received two concurrent 18-month prison sentences. In his removal proceedings, Watson was represented by counsel and conceded his removability under (1) INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i), for having been convicted of an offense relating to a controlled substance after admission (his Florida MDMA convictions); and (2) INA § 237(a)(2)(C), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(C), for having been convicted of a firearms offense after admission (his Florida firearm conviction). Watson also conceded that his Florida convictions were aggravated felonies that were also “particularly serious crimes,” rendering him ineligible for asylum or withholding of removal 2 Case: 18-10546 Date Filed: 03/08/2019 Page: 3 of 7 under INA § 208(b)(2)(A)(ii), (B)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2)(A)(ii), (B)(i), and INA§ 241(b)(3)(B)(ii), 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(b)(ii), and that, as such, he was seeking only CAT relief. With respect to his CAT claim, Watson maintained that he is bisexual and that if he were returned to Jamaica, he would be tortured or killed because of his sexual orientation. Watson submitted country conditions evidence that Jamaica criminalizes homosexual sex and that the Jamaican LGBTQ community faces homophobia, discrimination and violence. At his hearing, Watson presented testimony from himself, his parents, and the mother of his two U.S.-born children. Watson testified that while living in Jamaica, he was forced by an angry mob to flee his hometown and live with his grandmother after neighbors learned he was in a romantic relationship with another man named Kemar and that Kemar was killed by these neighbors shortly thereafter because of his sexual orientation. In their rulings, both the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) and the BIA noted Watson’s concessions and confirmed that Watson sought only CAT relief. The IJ determined, and the BIA agreed, that: (1) Watson was not credible; and (2) even if Watson was credible, he had not shown that it was more likely than not that ...
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