Appellate Case: 21-9555 Document: 010110688652 Date Filed: 05/25/2022 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT May 25, 2022 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court ARTURO AMADOR-LECHUGA, Petitioner, v. No. 21-9555 (Petition for Review) MERRICK B. GARLAND, United States Attorney General, Respondent. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT* _________________________________ Before BACHARACH, BALDOCK, and EID, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Arturo Amador-Lechuga, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) upholding the denial of his applications for withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Exercising jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(1), we deny the petition for review. * After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. Appellate Case: 21-9555 Document: 010110688652 Date Filed: 05/25/2022 Page: 2 BACKGROUND Amador-Lechuga most recently entered the United States in March 2019. This was his third recorded attempt to enter this country. He previously attempted an entry in 2015 but was removed to Mexico pursuant to an expedited removal order. In 2018, after he again attempted to enter the United States, the Department of Homeland Security reinstated his underlying removal order and again removed him to Mexico. As a result of this second entry, he was convicted in federal court of illegal reentry. In the 2015 and 2018 removal proceedings and in his criminal proceeding, Amador-Lechuga did not express a fear of returning to Mexico. But after the March 2019 entry an asylum officer interviewed him and found he had established a reasonable fear of torture if removed to Mexico. As a result, he was placed in withholding-only proceedings, see 8 C.F.R. § 1208.31(e), where he filed an application for withholding of removal and CAT relief. An immigration judge (IJ) held a hearing on his application. Amador-Lechuga testified at the hearing that he grew up in Durango, Mexico. He worked for 16 years as a policeman. His last position with the police, which he held for more than four years, required him to guard a district attorney. Problems developed for him in that position after the director of the judicial police reassigned him to guard a drug cartel leader. Amador-Lechuga initially refused, telling the director that he “wasn’t willing to participate in that and that I did not want that assignment.” R., Vol. 1 at 98. The director became upset and insisted 2 Appellate Case: 21-9555 Document: 010110688652 Date Filed: 05/25/2022 Page: 3 in a threatening manner that he would have to take the …
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