USCA11 Case: 20-13187 Date Filed: 03/15/2022 Page: 1 of 21 [DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 20-13187 ____________________ WALTER JAVIER ALVARENGA ROMERO, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ____________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A212-944-965 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 20-13187 Date Filed: 03/15/2022 Page: 2 of 21 2 Opinion of the Court 20-13187 Before JILL PRYOR, LUCK, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Walter Alvarenga Romero petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’s dismissal of his appeal of the immigration judge’s order denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. He ar- gues that the board erred by affirming the denial of his asylum and withholding of removal claims because the evidence compels a finding that, if he were removed to his home country of El Salva- dor, he would be persecuted on account of his membership in his particular social group—individuals who suffer from a mental ill- ness and behave erratically. After a thorough review of the record and with the benefit of oral argument, we grant Alvarenga’s peti- tion as to his claims for asylum and withholding of removal and remand for further proceedings, but we deny it as to his claim un- der the Convention Against Torture. I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Alvarenga, a citizen of El Salvador, came to the United States in 2007 when he was sixteen years old. In 2012, he began exhibiting the symptoms of a mental illness. Alvarenga heard voices and ex- perienced paranoia. His family called the police, who hospitalized Alvarenga. He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. Following his diagnosis, Alvarenga’s symptoms re-emerged whenever he refused to take his medication, and his family would USCA11 Case: 20-13187 Date Filed: 03/15/2022 Page: 3 of 21 20-13187 Opinion of the Court 3 have him hospitalized—often for weeks at a time. Alvarenga was hospitalized four times between 2012 and 2017 because of his schiz- ophrenia. The Immigration Court Proceedings In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security served Al- varenga with a notice to appear before the Immigration Court. Al- varenga conceded removability and the immigration judge sus- tained the charge. Alvarenga then requested asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. The immigration judge denied Alvarenga relief and ordered him re- moved to El Salvador. Alvarenga appealed to the board, and the board remanded the case to the immigration judge to determine whether Alvarenga was competent, and, if necessary, to conduct a new hearing with appropriate procedural safeguards. On remand, the immigration judge determined that Alvarenga wasn’t competent to litigate his own case and appointed counsel. Alvarenga, now represented, then filed a second application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Conven- tion Against Torture. Alvarenga argued that he had a well-founded fear of future persecution if he were removed to El Salvador on account of his particular social group: individuals …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals