United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 19-1165 JOSE ERNESTO MENJIVAR BONILLA, Petitioner, v. MERRICK B. GARLAND,* UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. PETITION FOR REVIEW OF AN ORDER OF THE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS Before Kayatta and Barron, Circuit Judges, Talwani,** District Judge. Rachel L. Rado, for petitioner. Jessica A. Dawgert, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, with whom Joseph H. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, and Melissa Neiman- Kelting, Assistant Director, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, were on brief, for respondent. January 12, 2022 * Pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2), Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has been substituted for former Attorney General William P. Barr as the respondent. ** Of the District of Massachusetts, sitting by designation. TALWANI, District Judge. Jose Ernesto Menjivar Bonilla, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the denial of his application for withholding of removal under Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") Section 241(b)(3) and relief under Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). We grant the petition in part and remand for further proceedings. I. Background On August 24, 2012, a border patrol agent from the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") apprehended Bonilla near the Mexican border. The border patrol agent prepared, and Bonilla signed, a "Record of Sworn Statement in Proceedings under Section 235(b)(1) of the Act"1 ("2012 Record") stating that Bonilla did not fear being returned to his home country or country of last residence and would not be harmed if he was returned. Bonilla was then removed by DHS under an expedited removal order. Bonilla returned to the United States. In 2018, DHS detained him and sought to reinstate the prior removal order.2 However, an asylum officer interviewed Bonilla and found that he had a 1 Section 235(b)(1) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1), governs inspection and expedited removals of inadmissible noncitizens who have not been admitted or paroled into the United States. 2 Noncitizens who unlawfully reenter the United States are subject to reinstatement of their prior orders of removal. 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(5). reasonable fear of persecution or torture upon his return to El Salvador. Bonilla, now represented by counsel, filed an application for withholding of removal and relief under the CAT, and his case was referred to an Immigration Judge ("IJ") for withholding-only proceedings. During the proceedings before the IJ, Bonilla testified that, while in El Salvador, he belonged to a conservative political party, the Nationalist Republican Alliance ("ARENA"), which had been in power for more than twenty years. He stated that, before 2009, he had a business selling clothing and food, and he also operated a taxi business. He received political support from ARENA, including the permits necessary to run the taxi business. Bonilla also testified that he became actively involved in ARENA's political activities, such as organizing voter drives and political marches. In 2009, ARENA's political opponent, the …
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