UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 17-1174 JAVIER DE JESUS DURAN REALEGENO, a/k/a Javier D. Duran, Petitioner, v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. Submitted: February 12, 2018 Decided: February 23, 2018 Before MOTZ, TRAXLER, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Aaron R. Caruso, ABOD & CARUSO, LLC, Wheaton, Maryland, for Petitioner. Chad A. Readler, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Briena L. Strippoli, Senior Litigation Counsel, Andrew B. Insenga, Trial Attorney, Office of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Javier de Jesus Duran Realegeno (Realegeno) is a native and citizen of El Salvador. He petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order dismissing his appeal from the immigration judge’s order denying his application for withholding of removal 1 and ordering his removal to El Salvador. Upon review of the record, we conclude that substantial evidence supports the Board’s holding that Realegeno failed to satisfy his burden of proving that any past persecution he sustained, and future persecution he feared, was on account of his status as a former police officer. Accordingly, we deny the petition for review. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) charged Realegeno with removability because he was an alien present in the United States without being admitted or paroled, in violation of § 212(a)(6)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) (2012). Realegeno admitted the charges and conceded removability, but sought withholding of removal, under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3) (2012), alleging that he suffered past persecution on account of his membership in a particular social group of former law enforcement officers. Realegeno served as a local police officer from 1987 until 1992, and worked with the Salvadoran national police from 1992 until 1994. Using money from his police force 1 Realegeno conceded that he was time-barred from applying for asylum, and his ineligibility for that relief is not an issue in this case. 2 retirement, Realegeno opened a welding business in 1995, which he operated until he left for the United States in 2002. Upon retiring from the police force, Realegeno began receiving anonymous written extortion demands containing threats to kill Realegeno if he did not pay the demanded amounts. Realegeno’s brother, who retired from the police force the same day as Realegeno, also received extortion threats. Between 1994 and 2002, Realegeno received two or three threatening letters per year. Realegeno paid the demanded sums because he was afraid that he would be killed if he refused. According to Realegeno, he knew that the threats were from gang members because his father-in-law had witnessed a gang member deliver one of the letters. Realegeno stated that the gang’s extortion letters targeted him because he previously had served as a police officer. But, Realegeno testified that the letters did not provide an ...
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