NON-PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ____________ No. 20-3470 ____________ DARLYN JOSUE MASS-MONTENEGRO, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent ____________ On Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA-1 : A206-880-066) Immigration Judge: D’Anna H. Freeman Submitted under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) on September 21, 2021 Before: CHAGARES, HARDIMAN, and MATEY, Circuit Judges. (Filed: September 22, 2021) ___________ OPINION* ____________ * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge. Darlyn Josue Mass-Montenegro petitions for review of a final order of removal issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals. Because we perceive no error in the Board’s decision denying Mass-Montenegro withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture, we will deny the petition. I In late 2014, Mass Montenegro was removed to his native Honduras after he was apprehended trying to enter the United States illegally “[t]o reside and seek employment in Los Angeles.” AR 443. When he was again caught trying to illegally enter the United States in early 2019, he expressed a fear of persecution or torture if returned to Honduras. After a hearing, an immigration judge found no past persecution, no likelihood of future persecution, and no likelihood of torture. So the IJ denied Mass-Montenegro’s petition for withholding of removal and for protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The BIA affirmed, and Mass-Montenegro filed this timely petition for review. II Soon after his 2014 removal to Honduras, Mass-Montenegro began volunteering for the country’s National Party. He was eventually hired to work part-time under President Hernandez’s Secretary of Culture and Arts. His duties included organizing cultural events, distributing food, and stage assembly. Mass-Montenegro’s feelings towards President Hernandez and the National Party soured following Honduras’s 2017 election. Shortly after the election, his boss asked him to help the government infiltrate nationwide protests against President Hernandez. The 2 goal, according to Mass-Montenegro, was to cause violence and destruction to sway public opinion in the government’s favor. When he refused, his boss threatened to fire him and warned him of “dire consequences.” AR 106. Still, Mass-Montenegro continued to work without incident for months after this first altercation. Several months later, he ran into his boss, who “tugged [him] by the shirt,” called him a dog and a traitor, then threatened to kill him. AR 105–07. Mass-Montenegro quit after this second run-in. The day after he quit, four military police officers accosted Mass-Montenegro in front of his home. He recognized one of the attackers as his former boss’s friend. After confirming Mass-Montenegro was “the traitor,” AR 110, the officers beat him for 20 to 25 seconds. One of the officers knocked him to his knees by hitting him in the stomach with the butt of a rifle. While Mass-Montenegro was down, the officers struck him with batons, kicked him, and insulted him. They also said they were going to break every …
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