Background
Petitioners Dagoberto Puerto Cerrato, his wife Isis Yasiri Romero Perez, and their two children, natives of Honduras, sought review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision. The Board had dismissed their appeal from an Immigration Judge’s denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. The petitioners alleged extortion by gang members in Honduras.
The court’s reasoning
The court reviewed the denials for substantial evidence, a standard where findings are conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary. The court found that the petitioners did not establish that the alleged persecution was related to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The Immigration Judge found the extortion was motivated solely by financial profit, and the Board agreed. The petitioners offered no rebuttal to this finding in their brief. Regarding Convention Against Torture relief, the court found the petitioners failed to establish that Honduran police were likely to acquiesce to the torture, noting that general ineffectiveness in preventing crime does not suffice to show acquiescence.
What it means going forward
The denial of the petition leaves in place the lower agencies’ decisions denying asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture relief to the petitioners.
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