Robert Juvener Garcia-Guity v. U.S. Attorney General


USCA11 Case: 20-12758 Date Filed: 08/06/2021 Page: 1 of 18 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 20-12758 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A215-824-594 ROBERT JUVENER GARCIA-GUITY, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (August 6, 2021) Before MARTIN, LAGOA, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 20-12758 Date Filed: 08/06/2021 Page: 2 of 18 Robert Juvener Garcia-Guity is a native and citizen of Honduras. He is seeking review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) final order affirming the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), and relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“CAT”). Garcia-Guity says the IJ’s adverse credibility finding, which the BIA adopted, is not supported by substantial evidence, and the BIA and IJ failed to give reasoned consideration to evidence corroborating his asylum claims. He also argues the BIA failed to give reasoned consideration to his claims for withholding of removal and CAT relief. After careful consideration, we conclude the adverse credibility finding is supported by substantial evidence. However, we agree with Garcia-Guity that the BIA failed to give reasoned consideration to all of his corroborating evidence and to his withholding of removal and CAT claims. Therefore, we grant his petition, vacate the decision of the BIA, and remand for further proceedings. I. BACKGROUND Garcia-Guity is an asylum applicant facing removal. He alleges that he came to the United States to escape persecution in Honduras on account of his race (Black), ethnic group (Garifuna), and disability. He entered the United States in September 2018. 2 USCA11 Case: 20-12758 Date Filed: 08/06/2021 Page: 3 of 18 A. Credible Fear Interview After Garcia-Guity arrived in the United States, an asylum officer conducted a credible fear interview (“CFI”). The administrative record does not contain the full transcript of Garcia-Guity’s CFI, only notes. The document containing these notes has the following disclaimer: THE FOLLOWING NOTES ARE NOT A VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT OF THIS INTERVIEW. THESE NOTES ARE RECORDED TO ASSIST THE INDIVIDUAL OFFICER IN MAKING A CREDIBLE FEAR DETERMINATION AND THE SUPERVISORY ASYLUM OFFICER IN REVIEWING THE DETERMINATION. THERE MAY BE AREAS OF THE INDIVIDUAL’S CLAIM THAT WERE NOT EXPLORED OR DOCUMENTED FOR PURPOSES OF THIS THRESHOLD SCREENING. The CFI notes indicate that Garcia-Guity left Honduras because he was afraid of the 18 gang. Garcia-Guity said the 18 gang was after him because he reported them for beating him in 2014. According to the notes, Garcia-Guity said the gang beat his leg repeatedly with a pipe, shattering his bone and knocking him to the ground. The gang left him lying in the street until some people found him and took him to the hospital. Doctors performed surgery on Garcia-Guity’s leg but were unable to put his shattered bone back together. As a result, Garcia-Guity …

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Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals