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Mencia-Medina v. Garland

Facts

Sergio Mencia-Medina, a native of Honduras, entered the U.S. as a child and was charged with removal due to his undocumented status. After a series of events including abuse from family members and a conviction for making threats of violence, he sought discretionary cancellation of removal based on his status as a battered child of a lawful permanent resident. The immigration judge initially granted his application, but the BIA later reversed this decision, citing Mencia-Medina's criminal history and other factors.

Mencia-Medina is a native and citizen of Honduras. He entered the United States as a child with his mother in May 2001. Later that month, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service charged Mencia-Medina as removable because he was present in the country without admission. See 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) . Mencia-Medina did not appear at the removal proceedings, and the immigration court in El Paso, Texas, ordered him removed in absentia in July 2001. Mencia-Medina and his mother traveled to New Jersey to live with his father. Petitioner presented evidence that his parents neglected and abused him. He was placed in foster care for a time, but later returned to his parents. After his parents separated, Mencia-Medina moved to Minnesota with his mother, and she later became a lawful permanent resident. In 2015, Mencia-Medina fathered a child with a woman who is now his ex-girlfriend. He was charged with sexual misconduct because the woman was underage, but the charge was dismissed. In January 2016, while Mencia-Medina was visiting the home of his ex-girlfriend's mother, the girl's stepfather allegedly attacked him. The two men fought, and Mencia-Medina retrieved a samurai sword from his car. Mencia-Medina then followed the stepfather into the house, but ultimately gave up the sword without striking the man. Based on this incident, Mencia-Medina was convicted in Minnesota of making threats of violence. See Minn. Stat. 609.713, subdiv. 1 . In early 2019, Mencia-Medina moved the immigration court in El Paso to vacate and reopen his 2001 in absentia removal order. He also moved to transfer venue for the reopened proceedings to Minnesota. The court granted those motions. In the reopened proceedings, Mencia-Medina conceded that he was removable, but applied for discretionary "special rule" cancellation of removal that is available to a child who has been battered by a permanent resident parent. See 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b)(2) . The immigration judge (IJ) granted Mencia-Medina's application for cancellation of removal. The Department of Homeland Security appealed that decision, and the Board reversed on the ground that Mencia-Medina did not deserve a favorable exercise of discretion.

Issue

Did the Board of Immigration Appeals exceed its authority by engaging in impermissible fact-finding and failing to properly consider the immigration judge's findings in denying Mencia-Medina's application for cancellation of removal?

Rule

The Board reviews an immigration court's factual findings for clear error and its discretionary decisions de novo. It may not engage in fact-finding except to take administrative notice of undisputed facts, and it has the discretion to weigh factual findings differently.

The Board reviews an immigration court's factual findings for clear error, and its discretionary decisions de novo . 8 C.F.R. 1003.1(d)(3)(i)-(ii) . The Board may "not engage in factfinding," except to "take administrative notice of facts that are not reasonably subject to dispute." Id. 1003.1(d)(3)(iv)(A) . Although the Board "may not disregard the IJ's factual findings and supplant them with its own, absent a finding of clear error," the Board "has the discretion to weigh [those] factual findings differently." Waldron v. Holder , 688 F.3d 354, 361 (8th Cir. 2012) .

Analysis

The court determined that the BIA did not exceed its authority or engage in impermissible fact-finding. It acknowledged the immigration judge's findings but placed greater weight on evidence not discussed by the judge, including the emotional harm caused by Mencia-Medina's actions. The BIA's decision to weigh the evidence differently was within its discretion and did not contradict the immigration judge's findings.

We are not convinced that the Board impermissibly found facts or disregarded findings of the IJ on these matters. The IJ found that petitioner's offense caused no physical harm, but the Board properly relied on emotional or mental harm arising from the petitioner's conduct. The victim impact statement of the ex-girlfriend's mother in petitioner's criminal case expressed "the pain of a mother," reported that petitioner had caused "much pain" in the lives of her family, and explained that her daughter had "changed from being happy, to now suffering with stress, worries and depression."

Conclusion

The Eighth Circuit upheld the BIA's decision, denying Mencia-Medina's petition for review and affirming that the BIA acted within its discretion in evaluating the factors relevant to his cancellation of removal application.

For these reasons, the petition for review is denied.

Who won?

The Board of Immigration Appeals prevailed in the case, as the Eighth Circuit upheld its decision to deny Mencia-Medina's application for cancellation of removal based on a proper exercise of discretion.

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