NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ______________ No. 18-3019 ______________ LUIS EDGARDO CASTILLO-MEJIA, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent ______________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A208-286-331) Immigration Judge: Dinesh C. Verma ______________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) July 8, 2019 ______________ Before: SHWARTZ, KRAUSE, and FUENTES, Circuit Judges. (Filed: July 19, 2019) ______________ OPINION* ______________ SHWARTZ, Circuit Judge. Luis Edgardo Castillo-Mejia petitions for review of the order of the Board of * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and, pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7, does not constitute binding precedent. Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his appeal of the denial of his asylum application. For the reasons that follow, we will deny the petition. I Castillo-Mejia, a native and citizen of Honduras, is a practicing evangelical Christian. From a young age, he was involved in youth and worship ministries, attended regular congregational activities, and invited people into the church. When Castillo-Mejia was fourteen years old, gang members began insulting him and his religion. He stopped going to school after gang members looked for him there. The next year, the gang threatened to kill him and his family if he did not join the gang. On one occasion, four or five gang members approached him as he was leaving his house and threatened that if he did not join the gang, they would kill him. They said he “should not follow God because the gang is god.” A.R. 207. Another evening, eight gang members surrounded Castillo-Mejia on his way home, made their guns visible to him, told him that he had to join the gang or he and his family would pay, and yelled “God can’t protect you,” “where is your god now,” and “We are God.” A.R. 207. Within a few months of the final incident, Castillo-Mejia entered the United States without permission. He was issued a notice to appear, which stated that the time and date of his hearing were “to be set.” A.R. 235-36. He was then served with a notice indicating the date and time of a hearing, and appeared before an Immigration Judge (“IJ”). He failed to appear at a subsequent hearing and was ordered removed in absentia. At his request, the IJ vacated the removal order and reopened his case. Castillo-Mejia then applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention 2 Against Torture (“CAT”). Castillo-Mejia conceded removability.1 He then appeared before a different IJ for a merits hearing on his applications for relief. The IJ found Castillo-Mejia credible but determined that he was ineligible for asylum2 because: (1) “the[] verbal threats that respondent endured do not rise to the level of past persecution,” A.R. 75; and (2) he has not demonstrated likelihood of future persecution due to a protected ground because: (a) he has not shown “that his religion is the essential or principle [sic] reason that he will ...
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