PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ____________ No. 19-1793 ____________ BRAYAN ANTONIO GUZMAN ORELLANA, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A216-282-709) Immigration Judge: Leo A. Finston Argued on December 10, 2019 Before: RESTREPO, ROTH and FISHER, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: April 17, 2020) J. Wesley Earnhardt Troy C. Homesley, III Brian Maida (ARGUED) Cravath, Swaine & Moore 825 Eighth Avenue Worldwide Plaza New York, NY 10019 Counsel for Petitioner Madeline Henley Greg D. Mack (ARGUED) United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation P.O. Box 878 Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Respondent O P I N I ON ROTH, Circuit Judge: After overhearing the murder of his two next-door neighbors and facing repeated threats from local gang members for his perceived role in assisting law enforcement, petitioner Brayan Antonio Guzman Orellana left his home in El Salvador and entered the United States seeking relief 2 pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and the Convention Against Torture (CAT). The Immigration Judge (IJ) denied his application, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dismissed his appeal. We must now decide three issues: (1) whether persons who publicly provide assistance to law enforcement against major Salvadoran gangs constitute a cognizable particular social group for purposes of asylum and withholding of removal under the INA, (2) whether Guzman has established that he suffered past persecution on account of anti-gang political opinion imputed to him, and (3) whether the BIA correctly applied the framework we enunciated in Myrie v. Attorney General1 in denying Guzman relief under the CAT. For the reasons that follow, we hold that persons who publicly provide assistance against major Salvadoran gangs do constitute a particular social group, that Guzman has failed to meet his burden to show that imputed anti-gang political opinion was a central reason for the treatment he received, and that the BIA erred in its application of Myrie to Guzman’s application. Accordingly, we will vacate the BIA’s decision and remand this case for further proceedings on Guzman’s petition for relief from removal. I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Guzman is a native of El Salvador. He grew up in a neighborhood controlled by Mara Salvatrucha, a gang commonly known as MS-13. On October 5, 2017, when Guzman was 18 years old, his two next-door neighbors were murdered. Earlier that night, a member of MS-13 had warned Guzman’s family “not to speak to or call the police regarding 1 855 F.3d 509 (3d Cir. 2017). 3 whatever [they] saw or heard in the next couple of hours.”2 Shortly thereafter, Guzman overheard the murder as it took place. About a week later, the police visited Guzman’s neighborhood and, in front of Guzman’s house, questioned him about his missing neighbors. Fearing that harm would come to him and his family if he cooperated with the police, Guzman told them that he knew nothing. However, ...
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