Case: 20-60598 Document: 00516045395 Page: 1 Date Filed: 10/06/2021 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED October 6, 2021 No. 20-60598 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Hector Raul Orellana-Martinez, Petitioner, versus Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent. Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals No. A 205 842 051 Before Jones, Smith, and Haynes, Circuit Judges. Jerry E. Smith, Circuit Judge:* Hector Orellana-Martinez, a native and citizen of Honduras, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismiss- ing his appeal from the denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We deny the petition. * Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opin- ion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4. Case: 20-60598 Document: 00516045395 Page: 2 Date Filed: 10/06/2021 No. 20-60598 I. Orellana-Martinez attempted to enter the United States in February 2013 without being admitted or paroled. The Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings, filing a Notice to Appear (“NTA”) that charged Orellana-Martinez with removability under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). At a hearing, he admitted the allegations in the NTA, thereby conceding that he was removable. He then filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under CAT. In his applica- tion, he asserted that he had been beaten and threatened because of his work for the Honduran National Party and that his assailants were gang members affiliated with an opposing party. At the removal hearing, Orellana-Martinez testified that four or five masked men pulled him from his motorcycle on his way home from a political gathering, called him a traitor, beat him so severely that he lost conscious- ness, and threatened future harm. Orellana-Martinez provided medical doc- umentation showing that he sought medical care for his injuries and also pro- duced a police report indicating that he had reported his attack. Orellana-Martinez did not indicate to the police, however, that the assault was in anyway political; instead, he told them only that he had been beaten by some men and that they threatened him and his family “if he did not leave his house.” At his hearing, Orellana-Martinez testified that he failed to tell the police about his assailants’ political motive because he was afraid that corrupt police officers might inform his attackers and provoke a reprisal. He further testified that he could not give the police an accurate description of the perpetrators because they wore masks. Orellana-Martinez also provided two affidavits from acquaintances confirming the attack, but neither affidavit indicated that the attack was polit- ically motivated. Orellana-Martinez testified that his acquaintances were 2 Case: 20-60598 Document: 00516045395 Page: 3 Date Filed: 10/06/2021 No. 20-60598 also afraid to report that political animus was the impetus for the assault. Orellana-Martinez asserts that, after the attack, he received five …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals