UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ JOSE YANEL SANCHEZ-PEREZ, │ Petitioner, │ > No. 23-3004 │ v. │ │ MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, │ Respondent. │ ┘

On Petition for Review from the Board of Immigration Appeals. No. A 028 650 559.

Decided and Filed: April 30, 2024

Before: BOGGS, MOORE, and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges.

_________________

COUNSEL ON BRIEF: William Patrick York, II, OZMENT LAW, PLC, Nashville, Tennessee, for Petitioner. Dana M. Camilleri, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

_________________

OPINION _________________

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. One day after he pleaded guilty to violating a Tennessee domestic-violence law, the federal government initiated removal proceedings against Jose Yanel Sanchez-Perez. Ultimately, an immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals determined that Sanchez-Perez could not seek cancellation of removal due to this conviction. The Board of Immigration Appeals improperly determined that No. 23-3004 Sanchez-Perez v. Garland Page 2

Sanchez-Perez pleaded guilty to a crime of violence, however. Accordingly, we GRANT Sanchez-Perez’s petition for review, VACATE the Board’s order of removal, and REMAND to the Board for proceedings consistent with our opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

Sanchez-Perez is a native and citizen of El Salvador who first entered the United States in 1998. A.R. at 3 (December 5, 2022 BIA Dec. at 1); id. at 1155 (July 24, 2015 I.J. Dec. at 2). On August 14, 2009, Sanchez-Perez pleaded guilty to committing misdemeanor domestic assault under Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-13-111. Id. at 553 (Disposition). The Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings against Sanchez-Perez the next day. Id. at 1506–08 (Not. to Appear).

Sanchez-Perez’s removal proceedings have played out at multiple hearings over the ensuing years. Many of these proceedings and the legal issues addressed therein are irrelevant to the instant case. Relevant here, in July 2015, an immigration judge found that Sanchez-Perez was ineligible for cancellation of removal because he failed to establish that he had been continuously present in the United States for ten years prior to receiving the notice to appear. Id. at 1164 (July 24, 2015 I.J. Dec. at 11). Notwithstanding this finding, the immigration judge also found that Sanchez-Perez was not statutorily barred from seeking cancellation of removal due to his 2009 domestic-violence conviction, id. at 1165 (July 24, 2015 I.J. Dec. at 12); that Sanchez-Perez had exhibited good moral character despite the conviction, id. at 1165–66 (July 24, 2015 I.J. Dec. at 12–13); and that his removal would cause “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” for his family, id. at 1166–68 (July 24, 2015 I.J. Dec. at 13–15). The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissed Sanchez-Perez’s appeal and agreed with the immigration judge’s findings that Sanchez-Perez lacked the requisite continuous physical presence and thus