NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _____________ No. 19-2404 _____________ JOSE MELGAS ORELLANA, AKA Jose Melgar Orellana, AKA Jose Melgarorellana, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent. ______________ On Petition for Review from a Final Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A098-988-957) Immigration Judge: Nelson Vargas Padilla ______________ Argued: February 5, 2020 ______________ Before: CHAGARES, RESTREPO, and BIBAS, Circuit Judges. (Filed: April 3, 2020) Oscar J. Barbosa Diaspora Law 310 Morris Avenue Suite 302 Elizabeth, NJ 07208 Stephen Hildebrand [ARGUED] Gallo Hildebrand 10 East Athens Avenue Suite 210b Ardmore, PA 19003 Counsel for Petitioner Yanal H. Yousef [ARGUED] United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation P.O. Box 878 Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Respondent _____________ OPINION* ______________ RESTREPO, Circuit Judge. Jose Melgar Orellana,1 a non-citizen and gay man from El Salvador, petitions for review of the denial of his application for withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Melgar claims that members of major gangs in El Salvador repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted him and extorted him under threats of sexual violence, on account of his sexual orientation, and that the Salvadoran government acquiesced in this conduct. Because neither the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) nor the Immigration Judge (IJ) properly addressed these claims or the material evidence in the record, we are * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. 1 Petitioner refers to himself as “Melgar,” so we will use that name here. 2 unable to meaningfully review their decisions. Therefore, we will vacate the BIA’s decision and remand for reconsideration consistent with this opinion. I. BACKGROUND A. Melgar’s Experience Melgar began to identify as gay when he was a young boy. As he grew into adolescence, gang members started noticing and harassing him. Around age thirteen, he was raped by five men, whom he identified as members of MS-13 or “Mara MS,” a major Salvadoran gang, because of their tattoos and clothes. AR73. The men threatened to kill him if he told the police, so he kept quiet. He believes he was targeted by these men because he is gay. After the rape, he became depressed and attempted suicide. A few years later, Melgar moved with a gay friend, who was also being harassed by the gangs, to another municipality about three hours away. Soon, another major gang, “Mara 18,” began to sexually harass the two young men with vulgar taunting and touching. AR76. Melgar explained that the gang members “quickly noted that we were gay and they assaulted and abused us.” AR371. He believes that gangs single out gay men like him based on societal stereotypes associated with their appearance and mannerisms: “You can distinguish us by the way we walk, we act, we dress. It is different from [others].” AR74 (Tr. 23:11-12). He stated: ...
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