The Fifth Circuit has denied a petition for review filed by a Nigerian man seeking both ordinary cancellation of removal based on his current wife's medical conditions and special VAWA cancellation based on abuse by a prior wife, holding that the agency's hardship and battery-or-extreme-cruelty determinations were supported by substantial evidence.
Joining several sister circuits, the Court adopted a substantial-evidence standard for reviewing both the exceptional-and-extremely-unusual-hardship determination under ordinary cancellation and the battery-or-cruelty and hardship determinations under special VAWA cancellation, following the Supreme Court's reasoning in Urias-Orellana v. Bondi. Applying that standard, the Court held the record did not compel a finding that the petitioner's current wife would face hardship beyond what is ordinarily expected from removal, and that his prior wife's mistreatment, including name-calling, minor burns, and threats to report him to immigration authorities, did not rise to the level of battery or extreme cruelty required by the statute.
The full text of Okene v. Blanche can be found here: https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/25/25-60559-CV0.pdf