USCA11 Case: 19-15144 Date Filed: 04/23/2021 Page: 1 of 17 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 19-15144 ________________________ Agency No. A201-604-811 DENIS ADRIAN AGUILERA FERNANDEZ, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (April 23, 2021) Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, JILL PRYOR and ED CARNES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 19-15144 Date Filed: 04/23/2021 Page: 2 of 17 Denis Adrian Aguilera Fernandez, a citizen of Cuba, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order affirming an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal. Aguilera Fernandez argues the agency erred when it determined that his past mistreatment in Cuba did not rise to the level of persecution and that he did not establish a well-founded fear of future persecution. After careful consideration and with the benefit of oral argument, we deny Aguilera Fernandez’s petition. I. BACKGROUND Aguilera Fernandez is a Cuban citizen. On the night the Cuban government announced Fidel Castro’s death, he tried to buy alcohol for his friend as a birthday present. The problem was that the Cuban government had prohibited the purchase of alcohol in observance of Castro’s death. When Aguilera Fernandez attempted to buy the alcohol, police officers stopped him and said he was disrespecting Castro’s memory by “celebrating his death.” AR 219. 1 An argument between the officers and Aguilera Fernandez ensued, during which Aguilera Fernandez said, “this [is] what the tyranny would do” and “there [is] no democracy in [Cuba].” Id. The police officers then hit Aguilera Fernandez and detained him for 24 hours. In the months following his detention, the Cuban police began surveilling Aguilera Fernandez’s house and interviewing his neighbors. Police officers also 1 “AR” refers to the administrative record. 2 USCA11 Case: 19-15144 Date Filed: 04/23/2021 Page: 3 of 17 periodically went to his house unannounced, asked him questions, and detained him. From the time Aguilera Fernandez was first detained in November 2016 until he left Cuba in December 2018, officers arrested and detained him between seven and ten times. Each detention lasted between eight and 24 hours, and they all took place around national holidays when police assumed Aguilera Fernandez would be “on the streets protesting . . . against the government.” AR 223. While he was detained, Aguilera Fernandez expressed his frustration with the dictatorship in Cuba, the lack of freedom of speech and expression, and the Cuban people’s inability to select their own leaders. During the detentions, police officers “physically attacked” Aguilera Fernandez—they handcuffed him and hit him in the back and shoulders with their fists, the palms of their hands, and their knees. AR 225. The officers were “careful[] not to leave any signs or bruises . . . [as] evidence of what they had done,” however. Id. Aguilera Fernandez said he never went to a doctor because he was afraid of attracting police attention, …
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