NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _____________ No. 17-2578 _____________ DAVID FRANCISCO CANAS-FLORES, a/k/a DAVID FRANCISCO, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent ______________ On Petition for Review of an Order Of the Board of Immigration Appeals Agency No. A-205-656-833 Immigration Judge: Honorable Kuyomars Q. Golparvar ______________ Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) March 13, 2018 ______________ Before: JORDAN, KRAUSE, and GREENBERG, Circuit Judges (Opinion Filed: July 18, 2018) ______________ OPINION* ______________ * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. GREENBERG, Circuit Judge. I. INTRODUCTION David Francisco Canas-Flores petitions for review of a decision and order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his appeal from an order of an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) denying his application for withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). For the reasons that follow, we will deny the petition. II. BACKGROUND Canas-Flores, a native and citizen of El Salvador, entered the United States unlawfully in June 2010 and ever since unlawfully has remained in this country. After his arrest in 2012, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) served Canas-Flores with a notice to appear, charging him with removability under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) § 212(a)(6)(A)(i) and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). Subsequently, DHS released him from detention but he was arrested again, and returned to DHS custody. Canas-Flores submitted a pro se application for asylum and withholding of removal, which an IJ denied. Canas-Flores appealed to the BIA which remanded the case to the IJ because the record did not contain an oral decision of the IJ. On remand, with the assistance of counsel, Canas-Flores submitted an updated application seeking asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief.1 1 But he has abandoned his asylum application because it was untimely. 2 At the removal hearing, Canas-Flores testified that he came to the United States because he feared gangs in El Salvador. He stated that after he was released from jail in El Salvador in 2007, members of the MS-13 gang recruited him to be a leader in their gang in which he would be admired because of his status as a former prisoner. After he refused to join the MS-13 gang because of what he claimed were his “Christian beliefs,” A.R. 186-87, gang members accused him of belonging to a rival gang, harassed him, and threatened “to kill” him. A.R. 186-87. Canas-Flores testified that he then moved to Guatemala but later returned to El Salvador, where gang members harassed him and accused him of belonging to another gang. He also testified that the MS-13 gang forced his brother to become a gang member and that a MS-13 gang member shot his cousin because she tried to withdraw from the gang. Canas-Flores did not report the harassment to the police because he believed that they would not protect him due to his criminal record. He also said that if he returned ...
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