NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 21a0486n.06 No. 20-3955 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Oct 27, 2021 JORGE A. FLORES-BENEDICT, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ) Petitioner, ) ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW v. ) FROM THE BOARD OF ) IMMIGRATION APPEALS MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, ) ) Respondent. ) ) Before: SUTTON, Chief Judge; BATCHELDER and LARSEN, Circuit Judges. ALICE M. BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge. Petitioner Jorge Flores-Benedict, a native and citizen of Honduras, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming the decision of the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), and ordering him removed to Honduras. He argues that the IJ failed to develop the record adequately, thus violating his right to due process, and that the BIA applied an incorrect legal standard and engaged in impermissible fact-finding, all of which require remand. We disagree and DENY the petition for review. I. Flores-Benedict was born in Honduras and is a member of the Garifuna ethnic group. The Garifuna are descendants of indigenous and formerly enslaved Afro-Caribbean people. Flores-Benedict entered the United States on May 20, 2019, at an unknown location. No. 20-3955, Flores-Benedict v. Garland The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) served Flores-Benedict with a Notice to Appear (“NTA”) on June 20, 2019, which placed Flores-Benedict in removal proceedings. DHS charged Flores-Benedict with removability based on two grounds: (1) Flores-Benedict is an immigrant who entered the United States without valid documentation pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I); and (2) Flores-Benedict is a noncitizen who entered the United States without being admitted or paroled by an immigration officer pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). At a master calendar hearing on August 5, 2019, Flores-Benedict admitted the allegations in the NTA and was found subject to removal as charged. On September 16, 2019, Flores-Benedict applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection. Flores-Benedict testified in support of his application before the IJ on November 8, 2019. At the hearing, Flores-Benedict claimed that he fled Honduras because a Honduran police officer threatened his life after Flores-Benedict observed three gang members give money to the police officer. According to Flores-Benedict, the police officer noticed that Flores-Benedict had seen the money exchange, called Flores-Benedict over, took a photo of him, and threatened to kill him if he said anything about what he had just seen. Flores-Benedict also claims that the police officer told Flores-Benedict that he does not like black people. Flores-Benedict never reported what he saw because he feared what the police officer and gang members would do to him. In addition to the incident with the police officer, Flores-Benedict testified that he has suffered because of racism in Honduras. He claimed that at several traffic stops, Honduran police officers searched him and other members of the Garifuna ethnic group while leaving others—who were not black—alone. Flores-Benedict testified that the police stopped and checked him six …
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