17-2284-ag Zelaya-Moreno v. Wilkinson UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT August Term 2019 (Argued: September 27, 2019 Decided: February 26, 2021) No. 17-2284 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– DOUGLAS ADRIAN ZELAYA-MORENO Petitioner, -v.- ROBERT M. WILKINSON ACTING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. * –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Before: LIVINGSTON, Chief Judge, POOLER and SULLIVAN, Circuit Judges. Petitioner Douglas Adrian Zelaya-Moreno (“Zelaya”) seeks review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Zelaya, who had been threatened and beaten by gang members and Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2), Acting Attorney * General Robert M. Wilkinson is automatically substituted for former Attorney General William P. Barr as Respondent. 1 police officers who urged him to join the gang, sought relief primarily on two grounds. First, he claimed that the gang persecuted him because of his political opinion that gangs are bad for his town and country. Second, he sought protection under the CAT based on an asserted likelihood of future torture by, or with the acquiescence of, the police. We conclude that Zelaya’s negative view of gangs does not amount to a “political opinion” within the meaning of the immigration laws, and that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s decision that he has not established a likelihood of future torture if he were to be removed to El Salvador. Accordingly, the petition for review is DENIED. Judge Pooler dissents in a separate opinion. FOR PETITIONER: ROBERT C. ROSS, West Haven, CT. FOR RESPONDENT: LORI B. WARLICK (Chad A. Readler and M. Jocelyn Lopez Wright, on the brief), Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON, Chief Judge: Petitioner Douglas Adrian Zelaya-Moreno (“Zelaya”) seeks review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Zelaya, a citizen of El Salvador, testified before an Immigration Judge (“IJ”) that while in El Salvador, he was threatened and beaten by gang members and police officers who urged him to join the gang. The petitioner sought relief primarily on two grounds. First, Zelaya claimed that the gang persecuted him 2 because of his political opinion that gangs are bad for his town and country. Second, he sought protection under the CAT based on an asserted likelihood of future torture at the hands of, or with the acquiescence of, the police. We conclude that Zelaya’s negative view of gangs does not amount to a “political opinion” within the meaning of the immigration laws, and that substantial evidence supports the BIA’s decision that he has not established a likelihood of future torture if he is removed to El Salvador. Accordingly, we deny his petition for review. BACKGROUND I. Factual Background 1 Zelaya was born in El Salvador, on the outskirts of the town of Pasaquina, where he lived with his parents and three siblings. Zelaya asserts that on ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals