Case: 19-10971 Date Filed: 01/29/2020 Page: 1 of 10 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 19-10971 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A206-638-462 VICTOR MANUEL CHAVEZ-ROMERO, KATHERIN YESSENIA CHAVEZ-ROMERO, Petitioners, versus UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (January 29, 2020) Before BRANCH, HULL, and MARCUS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 19-10971 Date Filed: 01/29/2020 Page: 2 of 10 Katherin and Victor Chavez-Romero (“petitioners”) seek review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) denial of their motion to remand through which they sought a waiver of inadmissibility from the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) to then get a continuance in their removal proceedings while their derivative U visa petition was pending with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). The BIA concluded that reopening the removal proceedings was not warranted because the petitioners had not established that USCIS’s adjudication of their derivative U visa petition—itself a collateral matter—and the IJ’s adjudication of their request for a waiver of inadmissibility would likely change or materially affect the outcome of their removal proceedings. Further, because petitioners themselves were “not precluded from seeking a U visa from the USCIS,” and USCIS could adjudicate their waiver application, the BIA was not mandated to remand their case. Petitioners contend that the BIA’s decision is erroneous as a matter of law, is not supported by the precedent it cites and fails to follow existing precedent, and ignores this court’s holding in Meridor v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 891 F.3d 1302 (11th Cir. 2018). Upon careful review of the record and the briefs, we deny the petition. I. As pertinent to this appeal, petitioners are minor siblings and natives and citizens of El Salvador. They attempted to enter the United States illegally in 2 Case: 19-10971 Date Filed: 01/29/2020 Page: 3 of 10 2014, but were stopped at a border crossing. They were each issued a notice to appear that charged them with being removable because they were present in the United States without being admitted or paroled.1 At a subsequent hearing in front of the IJ to determine their status, they admitted the Department of Homeland Security’s (“DHS”) allegations of illegality and conceded removability. Thereafter, they filed applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Their applications were denied, and they were ordered removed to El Salvador. Petitioners then appealed to the BIA. While their appeal was pending, petitioners’ mother filed a U visa petition for herself, as well as petitions for the children to obtain derivative U visa status.2 Petitioners also filed applications for a waiver of inadmissibility with USCIS for 1 In the interim, the children were released to the custody of their mother who was already residing in the United States. 2 As explained by this court: A U visa is a nonimmigrant visa that is available to noncitizen victims of certain crimes to encourage noncitizens to come forward and ...
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