Background
Nanci Tatiana Diaz-Guevara, a native and citizen of El Salvador, applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. An Immigration Judge denied these applications and ordered her removal. The Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed her appeal. Diaz-Guevara sought review in the Fifth Circuit.
The court’s reasoning
The court declined to consider unexhausted claims concerning a presidential executive order and humanitarian asylum because the petitioner did not present them to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Regarding the asylum and withholding claims, the court found the petitioner cited nothing that compels a conclusion contrary to the Board’s finding that she failed to show past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution. Her Convention Against Torture claim also failed because she did not show she would more likely than not be tortured with official acquiescence if repatriated.
What it means going forward
The petition for review is denied, leaving the Board of Immigration Appeals order of removal in place.