Case Explained: Summary Calendar Hector Mauricio Rivera-Carpio v. Todd Wallace Blanche, Acting U.S. Attorney General

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Filed: 2026-07-09

The Fifth Circuit denied the petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision affirming the denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The court held that the agency’s findings were supported by substantial evidence, specifically concluding that Rivera-Carpio failed to demonstrate an objectively reasonable fear of future persecution because the gang he feared lacked a current inclination to persecute him, evidenced by the fact that his family members in El Salvador remained unharmed and the gang ceased its pursuit after he fled. Regarding CAT relief, the court found that the harms suffered did not rise to the level of persecution and therefore could not constitute torture, and that the Salvadoran government’s failure to arrest suspects did not amount to acquiescence to torture given that authorities had investigated the reported crimes. Consequently, Rivera-Carpio failed to meet the burden of showing it was more likely than not that he would be tortured by or with the complicity of state actors, resulting in the denial of all requested forms of relief and the dismissal of his petition.

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