The Board of Immigration Appeals has sustained DHS's appeal and vacated an Immigration Judge's grant of cancellation of removal to a lawful permanent resident as a matter of discretion. Applying the Matter of C-V-T- balancing test, the Board weighed the respondent's lengthy residence, family ties, arrival as a child, work coaching young boys at a boxing gym, and regular church attendance against an extensive criminal history including burglary, drug possession, and assault and harassment incidents involving family members, along with repeated drug-related arrests and convictions, probation violations, and unpaid court fines.
The Board held that non-conviction arrests still count as adverse conduct, and noted the absence of evidence of tax filings, Selective Service registration, steady employment, property ownership, or character letters. His stated desire to improve was not enough in the absence of "objective evidence of rehabilitation." The Board concluded that the positive equities did not outweigh his lengthy and serious criminal history, denied cancellation as a matter of discretion, and ordered him removed to Mexico.
The full text of Matter of Erick Fernando Mata Rodriguez can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1469096/dl?inline