UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 16-2405 OTONIEL DE JESUS NAJERA MORALES, Petitioner, v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Submitted: November 14, 2017 Decided: January 26, 2018 Before KING, SHEDD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Jeff Widdison, MCKINNEY IMMIGRATION LAW, Wilmington, North Carolina, for Petitioner. Chad A. Readler, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Shelley R. Goad, Assistant Director, Laura Halliday Hickein, Trial Attorney, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Otoniel de Jesus Najera Morales, a native and citizen of Guatemala, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) order finding him removable and ineligible for a waiver of inadmissibility. We deny the petition. I. Najera Morales entered the United States without inspection. In December 1985, he was arrested near the Texas/Mexico border along with two Colombian citizens. The Colombians told border patrol officers that they met Najera Morales 1 in Mexico and paid him $500 apiece in exchange for his assistance in transporting them across the border and into Houston. Based on the foregoing, Najera Morales was charged with two counts of aiding and abetting certain aliens to elude examination by Immigration officials in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(2). He pled guilty to one count of the indictment and was removed under the name David Paz. Several years later, Najera Morales entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident (LPR) based on his marriage to a United States citizen. He fathered two children (both United States citizens) with his wife and began naturalization proceedings. During these proceedings, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) became aware of Najera Morales’s criminal history. In addition to his prior removal under the alias David Paz, Najera Morales had three assault convictions in North Carolina, two of which were for an assault on a victim under the age of 12. Najera 1 The Colombians knew Petitioner by the alias “David Paz.” 2 Morales had failed to include these prior convictions on his naturalization papers. In March 2006, DHS issued Najera Morales a notice to appear, charging him as removable as an alien who procured a visa by fraud. After several hearings before an Immigration Judge (IJ) and several successful appeals to the BIA, the case was transferred. Prior to the transfer, DHS filed additional charges of inadmissibility against Najera Morales, alleging that he was removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(A) because he was “inadmissible” at the time of his adjustment of status because he knowingly aided another alien to enter or try and enter the United States illegally in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(E)(i) (alien smuggling). After the case was transferred, the IJ in Charlotte ordered Najera Morales to file a brief outlining his requested relief. Reviewing his filing, the IJ understood Najera Morales to be conceding ...
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