USCA11 Case: 21-10085 Date Filed: 06/14/2022 Page: 1 of 14 [DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 21-10085 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ JESUS RODRIGUEZ-ALFARO, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ____________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A201-901-750 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 21-10085 Date Filed: 06/14/2022 Page: 2 of 14 2 Opinion of the Court 21-10085 ____________________ No. 21-12500 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ JESUS RODRIGUEZ-ALFARO, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ____________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A201-901-750 ____________________ Before JORDAN, NEWSOM, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Jesus Rodriguez-Alfaro, a native and citizen of Cuba, peti- tions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’s denial of his USCA11 Case: 21-10085 Date Filed: 06/14/2022 Page: 3 of 14 21-10085 Opinion of the Court 3 applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. He also challenges the Board’s decision not to reconsider or reopen the case. Rodriguez-Alfaro makes three arguments. First, that the Board clearly erred in find- ing that his prior abuse by the Cuban police did not rise to the level of past persecution. Second, that it applied an incorrect legal stand- ard in evaluating his claimed fear of future persecution. And third, that the Board failed to give reasoned consideration to several of his arguments. After careful review, we deny Rodriguez-Alfaro’s petition as to the first two issues and grant it in part as to the third. On that issue, we hold that the Board failed to give reasoned con- sideration to Rodriguez-Alfaro’s argument that there was a pattern or practice of persecuting political dissidents in Cuba. Thus, we va- cate the Board’s decision and remand for further proceedings. I. BACKGROUND Rodriguez-Alfaro entered the United States in April 2019. The Department of Homeland Security issued a notice to appear two months later, asserting removability under the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(7)(A)(i)(I). During his credible fear interview, Rodriguez-Alfaro stated that the Cuban police cited him for not participating in a government holiday celebrating the “Committee for Defense of the Revolution,” detained him and la- beled him a “counterrevolutionary” for his political beliefs, and beat him, resulting in various injuries. Although he admitted to never being hospitalized, Rodriguez-Alfaro explained that the beat- ing broke one of his teeth, for which he had seen a dentist. He also USCA11 Case: 21-10085 Date Filed: 06/14/2022 Page: 4 of 14 4 Opinion of the Court 21-10085 claimed that others, including relatives, had been beaten by the po- lice and “disappeared” when they tried to file a complaint. Rodri- guez-Alfaro feared that the same thing would happen to him if he complained and that, having been identified as a counterrevolu- tionary, he would be detained upon his return to Cuba. Rodriguez-Alfaro applied pro se for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture, stating that the basis for his …
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