Case Explained: COSEME MORADEL-CALIX V. TODD BLANCHE

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Filed: 2026-07-15

The Ninth Circuit denied the petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision affirming the denial of Coseme Damian Moradel-Calix’s application for asylum. The court applied de novo review to legal determinations and substantial evidence review to factual findings, reversing only where any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude otherwise. The court held that substantial evidence supported the agency’s determination that Moradel-Calix failed to establish eligibility for asylum because he could not demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution on account of a protected ground. Specifically, the court found that anonymous death threats and a confrontation with an unknown armed individual did not constitute past persecution as they were nonspecific and unaccompanied by violence. Furthermore, the record did not compel the conclusion that future harm would be motivated by his family membership or his status as someone who reports crimes to law enforcement, noting that persons who report crimes do not constitute a cognizable particular social group. Consequently, the court ruled that Moradel-Calix failed to establish the necessary nexus between any past or future harm and a protected ground, which is dispositive of his asylum claim. The practical consequence is that the petition for review is denied, leaving in place the Immigration Judge’s denial of asylum and the Board of Immigration Appeals’ dismissal of Moradel-Calix’s appeal.

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