Background
Jose Ramon Reyes-Torres, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitioned for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision dismissing his appeal from an Immigration Judge order. The Immigration Judge had denied his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. The Board of Immigration Appeals agreed with the Immigration Judge and added its own reasoning.
The court’s reasoning
The panel unanimously concluded that the petitioner did not exhaust his challenges to the Immigration Judge’s dispositive findings regarding asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection. The court noted that to be eligible for asylum, a petitioner must demonstrate a likelihood of persecution on account of a protected ground, and for withholding of removal, a clear probability. The petitioner failed to challenge the nexus and government control analyses in his appeal to the Board. Even assuming the issues were not waived, the court found substantial evidence supported the agency’s finding that gang members were motivated solely by a desire to recruit the petitioner, not by a protected ground. Additionally, the court declined to consider an ineffective assistance of counsel claim because a motion to reopen based on that claim was still pending before the Board.
What it means going forward
The denial of the petition leaves the Board of Immigration Appeals order in place, resulting in the denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection for the petitioner. The petitioner retains the ability to appeal the Board’s decision on the pending motion to reopen regarding ineffective assistance of counsel.