Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-14-03236/USCOURTS-ca8-14-03236-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Loretta E. Lynch
Respondent
Robinzon Adiel Tobar Rivas
Petitioner

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

For the Eighth Circuit

___________________________

No. 14-3236

___________________________

Robinzon Adiel Tobar Rivas

lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner

v.

Loretta E. Lynch, Attorney General of the United States

lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent

____________

Petition for Review of an Order of the

 Board of Immigration Appeals

____________

 Submitted: November 16, 2015

 Filed: February 1, 2016

[Unpublished]

____________

Before SMITH, BYE, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.

____________

PER CURIAM.

Robinzon Adiel Tobar Rivas petitions for review of the Board of Immigration

Appeals (BIA) decision to deny his application for cancellation of removal. Having

jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(1), this court denies the petition. 

Appellate Case: 14-3236 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/01/2016 Entry ID: 4361877 
Tobar Rivas entered the United States, without inspection, near Brownsville

Texas. He filed a permanent asylum application in 2000, based on his fear of antigovernment guerrillas in Guatemala. In the application, Tobar Rivas claimed he

entered the United Statesin October 1996. He told an asylum officer “October 1996”

at a 2005 interview. In September 2005, DHS served him with a notice to appear,

alleging he was removable as an alien present in the United States without being

admitted or paroled. See INA § 212(a)(6)(A)(i); 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). During

a January 2006 pro se motion to change venue, he again claimed entering the United

States in October 1996. At a hearing in May 2006, Tobar Rivas testified he entered

the United Statesin October 1996. He obtained new counsel in September 2011. The

next month, he applied for cancellation of removal. He then claimed, for the first

time, entry into the United States in February 1994. He said he was previously

prompted to lie about his entry date by individuals who assisted him with his asylum

application (though the “Preparer” section of the application is blank). 

Title 8, section 1229b(b)(1), allows for cancellation ofremoval if the alien who

is inadmissible or deportable:

(A) has been physically present in the United States for a continuous

period of not less than 10 years immediately preceding the date of such

application;

(B) has been a person of good moral character during such period;

(C) has not been convicted of an offense under section 1182(a)(2),

1227(a)(2), or 1227(a)(3) of this title, subject to paragraph (5); and

(D) establishes that removal would result in exceptional and extremely

unusual hardship to the alien's spouse, parent, or child, who is a citizen

of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent

residence.

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Id. In May 2013 the immigration judge (IJ) denied Tobar Rivas’s application for

cancellation of removal. The IJ found he did not meet the continuous-physicalpresence or good-moral-character requirements because he did not provide objective,

credible evidence to corroborate his 1994 entry date, and, at some point, falsely

testified about his entry date. TheBIA affirmed without opinion. Tobar Rivas argues

that the IJ did not properly consider the evidence in the record about his entry date,

and erred in finding he did not meet the good moral character requirement.

“The decision to grant cancellation of removal is a discretionary act by the

Attorney General which this Court may not review.” Zeah v. Holder, 744 F.3d 577,

581 (8th Cir. 2014). This court, however, retains jurisdiction to review

“constitutional claims or questions of law” as well as “nondiscretionary

determinations underlying a denial of an application for cancellation of removal.”

Sanchez-Velasco v. Holder, 593 F.3d 733, 735 (8th Cir. 2010); 8 U.S.C.

§1252(a)(2)(D). “[T]he ten-year continuous presence requirement is a

nondiscretionary determination that is subject to judicial review because it involves

straightforward statutory interpretation and application of law to fact.” HernandezGarcia v. Holder, 765 F.3d 815, 816 (8 Cir. 2015) (internal quotation marks and

th

brackets omitted). This court reviews the BIA’s fact-findings for substantial

evidence, and any legal conclusions and constitutional challenges de novo. Zeah, 744

F.3d at 580. “In order to reverse under the substantial evidence standard, there must

be evidence “so compelling that no reasonable fact-finder would fail to find for

[Tobar Rivas].” Id. “When the BIA affirms without opinion, the IJ’s decision is the

final agency action for purposes of judicial review.” Abdelwase v. Gonzales, 496

F.3d 904, 906 (8th Cir. 2007). 

Substantial evidence supported the IJ’s finding that Tobar Rivas did not meet

the requirement for ten years of continuous physical presence before September 2005. 

At least four times between 2000 and 2006, Tobar Rivas said he entered the United

States in October 1996. The IJ issued an order, requiring Tobar Rivas to file

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“[o]bjective, credible documentation” corroborating his 1994 entry date. See

Sanchez-Velasco, 593 F.3d at 736 (“If the IJ deems it necessary . . . the alien must

corroborate ‘otherwise credible testimony’ with additional evidence unless the alien

demonstrates that it is not reasonably available.”). The evidence Tobar Rivas

presented were affidavits by his sister and two uncles, and a handwritten rental receipt

dated July 18, 1995. The affidavits are inconsistent with each other and with Tobar

Rivas’s testimony. The uncles’ affidavitsstate Tobar Rivas entered the United States

in February 1994, and worked at Echo Hotel and Cattle Barron from 1994 to 1996. 

His sister’s affidavit says he entered in February 1994, working at Echo Hotel and

Cattle Barron from 1994 to 1998. Tobar Rivas testified he entered in February 1994,

started working at Echo Hotel in September 1994, and began working at Cattle

Barron 6 months later, in February 1995, until 1998. Tobar Rivas claims these are

“minor inconsistences.” See Garrovillas v. I.N.S., 156 F.3d 1010, 1014 (9th Cir.

1998) (“‘[M]inor inconsistencies’ cannot serve as the sole basis for an adverse

credibility finding.” (emphasis added)). However, Tobar Rivas presented no

documentation from either Echo Hotel or Cattle Barron. He claimed he tried to get

payroll records, but Echo Hotel’s managers “were not willing to give us any letter or

anything,” and Cattle Barron’s old owner had passed away, making it “a little bit

hard” to get the records. Moreover, he did not demonstrate why documentation from

the Internal Revenue Service was not reasonably available (his attorney claimed that

such evidence existed and had been ordered). See Sanchez-Velasco, 593 F.3d at 736

(“An IJ’s determination that corroborating evidence is reasonably available is

conclusive unless ‘a reasonable trier of fact [would be] compelled to conclude that

[it] is unavailable.’” (quoting § 1252(b)(4))). 

The IJ gave no weight to the affidavits and found Tobar Rivas not credible. No

reasonable fact-finder would be compelled to find that Tobar Rivas entered the

United Statesin February 1994. Cf. id. at 736-37 (“The only evidence supporting the

contention that he had entered the country in 1996 was his own testimony . . . and he

failed to provide reasonably available corroborative evidence. On that basis, no

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reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude that the IJ's finding was

incorrect. It is therefore conclusive.”).

Since substantial evidence supports the IJ’s finding that Tobar Rivas failed to

meet the ten-year continuous-physical-presence requirement, this court need not

address the good-moral-character issue. 

The petition for review is denied. 

______________________________

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