NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 18-3618 ___________ OSCAR BAPTISTE, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent ____________________________________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A078-396-554) Immigration Judge: Honorable Leo Finston ____________________________________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) May 20, 2019 Before: KRAUSE, SCIRICA, and NYGAARD, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: May 23, 2019) ___________ OPINION * ___________ PER CURIAM * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Oscar Baptiste is a citizen of Panama who entered the United States on a B-2 visitor visa in January 2001. He adjusted his status to lawful permanent resident in October 2003. In July 2007, Baptiste filed a naturalization application. On July 31, 2008, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied that application because it concluded that Baptiste lacked good moral character. That finding stemmed from Baptiste’s arrest for domestic violence in May 2008. Those Connecticut state charges (assault in the third degree and risk of injury to a child) were later dismissed. In March 2011, Baptiste filed a second naturalization application, which was denied on February 19, 2019. 1 In March 2013, a federal jury found Baptiste guilty of knowingly and intentionally importing cocaine. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 952 and 960(b)(2)(B)(ii). He was sentenced to 108 months in prison, which was later reduced to 87 months. After completing his sentence, the Government took Baptiste into immigration custody. He was charged with removability for having been convicted of an aggravated felony as defined in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(B) (illicit trafficking in a controlled substance), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), and for having been convicted of a controlled substance offense, 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i). In immigration court, Baptiste filed a motion to terminate the proceedings, arguing 1 Meanwhile, in November 2018, Baptiste applied for relief in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, seeking to compel the USCIS to adjudicate his naturalization application or to have the District Court declare that he is a United States citizen. Baptiste v. Att’y Gen., D.N.J. Civ. No. 2:18-cv-16826. 2 that the USCIS had improperly denied his first naturalization application. An Immigration Judge concluded that Baptiste was removable and denied his request to terminate, noting that only a District Court has jurisdiction over an appeal from the USCIS’s denial of a naturalization application. On November 2, 2018, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed Baptiste’s appeal, stating that it lacked jurisdiction to review the denial of the naturalization application and explaining that Baptiste did not present any affirmative communications from the Department of Homeland Security attesting to his prima facie eligibility for naturalization. See In re Acosta Hidalgo, 24 I. & N. Dec. 103, 105 (BIA 2007) (providing that the BIA may terminate removal proceedings to allow pursuit of a naturalization application where DHS has provided “an affirmative communication attesting to an alien’s prima ...
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