NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _____________ Nos. 19-1286, 19-3455 _____________ MICHAEL ALEXANDER NELSON, a.k.a. Michael A. Nelson, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent _______________ On Petition for Review of Decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A044-843-940) Immigration Judge: Kuyomars Golparvar _______________ Argued January 28, 2021 Before: JORDAN, MATEY, Circuit Judges, and BOLTON, * District Judge. (Opinion Filed: March 29, 2021) Richard H. Frankel, Esq. Katelyn M. Hufe, Esq. Brian Loughnane [ARGUED] Emily Miles [ARGUED] Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law 3320 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 Counsel for Petitioner Michael A. Nelson * The Honorable Susan Bolton, Senior United States District Judge for the District of Arizona, sitting by designation. Anna Juarez [ARGUED] United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation P.O. Box 878 Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Respondent Attorney General of the United States of America _______________ OPINION ** _______________ MATEY, Circuit Judge. 1 Petitioner Michael A. Nelson is a felon facing deportation to Jamaica for a second time. His first deportation ended in violence at the hands of a gang. Five years later, after Nelson returned to the United States and in light of his earlier drug convictions, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) reinstated his 2011 removal order. But Nelson is afraid that removal to Jamaica will subject him to more gang violence. So he seeks withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3), and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), 8 C.F.R. §1208.16(c). An immigration judge (“IJ”) denied his claims, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirmed. Nelson timely petitioned for review and we will grant Nelson’s petition in part, deny it in part, and remand to the BIA for further proceedings. ** This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and, pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7, does not constitute binding precedent. 1 The Court extends its gratitude to the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law and its students for their extraordinary efforts in briefing and arguing this matter on behalf of Petitioner. 2 I. BACKGROUND Removed to Jamaica in March 2011 for a drug conviction, 2 Nelson returned to his old neighborhood in Kingston, where some of his childhood friends had become members of a gang known as the Bad Boys. The Bad Boys told Nelson they intended to harm Nelson’s family friend Carl, because Carl was gay. Nelson tipped off Carl and, as a result, the gang members shot Nelson. He survived and went into hiding for a few months until, in January 2012, he re-entered the United States illegally. Back in the United States, Nelson earned two new drug convictions 3 before his conviction for illegal re-entry. As a result, DHS reinstated his 2011 removal order. Nelson sought withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3) and relief under the CAT, 8 C.F.R. §1208.16(c). Both requests hinged on his continuing fear of the Bad Boys. The IJ …
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