George Chima v. Jefferson Sessions, III


Case: 17-60409 Document: 00514523264 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/21/2018 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 17-60409 June 21, 2018 Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce Clerk GEORGE CHUKWUKA CHIMA, Petitioner v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS, III, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent Petitions for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A055 577 012 Before REAVLEY, GRAVES, and HO, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: * Nigerian George Chukwuka Chima petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissing his appeal from the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) order denying his request for deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) and ordering him removed. The Government has moved to dismiss the petition for lack of jurisdiction. * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 17-60409 Document: 00514523264 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/21/2018 No. 17-60409 Chima contends that the IJ erred in finding that he failed to demonstrate any past torture or likelihood of future torture by the Nigerian government or with its acquiescence and that he thus failed to carry his burden of showing entitlement to deferral of removal under the CAT. He faults the IJ and the BIA for failing to consider some of the evidence he presented, including his testimony concerning a church bombing, his attempted kidnapping, and articles he attached to his application for relief. However, because Chima was removable as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony and because his argument amounts to a challenge to the IJ’s and BIA’s factual findings, this court lacks jurisdiction to consider the claim. 8 U.S.C. §§ 1252(a)(2)(C), 1252(a)(2)(D); Siwe v. Holder, 742 F.3d 603, 613 (5th Cir. 2014); Escudero- Arciniega v. Holder, 702 F.3d 781, 785 (5th Cir. 2012). To the extent that Chima seeks to challenge the IJ’s determination that his aggravated felony conviction was a particularly serious crime and that he was thus ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal, this court may likewise not consider the claim. Chima affirmatively waived any such challenge by conceding, through counsel, that the conviction was a particularly serious crime and that he was ineligible for all relief save deferral of removal under the CAT. Alternatively, because Chima did not raise the argument before the BIA, it is unexhausted, and this court lacks jurisdiction to consider it. Wang v. Ashcroft, 260 F.3d 448, 452 (5th Cir. 2001). If his petition for review and brief are liberally construed, Chima asks this court both to overturn the district court’s denaturalization judgment revoking his citizenship and to vacate his underlying fraud conviction. Because he did not raise these arguments before the BIA, they are similarly unexhausted, depriving this court of jurisdiction. See Wang, 260 F.3d at 452. Moreover, any challenge to the denaturalization and fraud conviction 2 Case: 17-60409 ...

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