United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 19-1620 CRISTIAN JOSUE DIAZ ORTIZ, Petitioner, v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. PETITION FOR REVIEW OF AN ORDER OF THE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS Before Howard, Chief Judge, Lynch, Lipez, Thompson, Kayatta, Barron, and Gelpí, Circuit Judges. Kristin M. Beale, with whom Ellen A. Scordino and DLA Piper LLP were on brief, for petitioner. Benjamin Mark Moss, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, with whom Brian M. Boynton, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, and John W. Blakeley, Assistant Director, Office of Immigration Litigation, were on brief, for respondent. Sameer Ahmed, with whom Philip L. Torrey and the Crimmigration Clinic/Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program were on brief, for amici curiae Constitutional and Immigration Law Professors. Kirsten V. Mayer, Ezra D. Geggel, and Ropes & Gray LLP on brief for amicus curiae Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project. ____________________ Opinion En Banc January 10, 2022 LIPEZ, Circuit Judge. Cristian Josue Diaz Ortiz, a native of El Salvador, seeks review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the denial of his claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture ("CAT"). The Immigration Judge's ("IJ") rejection of Diaz Ortiz's petition for relief rested on an adverse credibility determination that primarily drew its support from a "Gang Assessment Database." Flaws in that database, including its reliance on an erratic point system built on unsubstantiated inferences, compel us to conclude that the credibility judgment -- and, in turn, the rejection of Diaz Ortiz's request for relief -- is not supported by substantial evidence. Accordingly, we grant the petition for review and remand for new immigration proceedings. I. A. Factual Background In July 2015, when he was sixteen, Diaz Ortiz entered the United States at the Texas border. Immigration officials quickly arrested him, initiated removal proceedings, and released him into the custody of his uncle, who lived in East Boston. Three years later, on August 20, 2018, Diaz Ortiz and two others were arrested in East Boston by agents of Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI") and Enforcement and Removal Operations ("ERO") as part of an operation to arrest members of the notorious - 3 - Mara Salvatrucha ("MS-13") gang, a dangerous criminal organization known for committing violent crimes in the United States and Central America. See United States v. Pérez-Vásquez, 6 F.4th 180, 187-89 (1st Cir. 2021) (describing the operation and criminal activities of MS-13).1 Although he had no prior arrests and had not been observed participating in any gang activity, Diaz Ortiz was thereafter detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"). See 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) (providing that "an alien may be arrested and detained pending a decision on whether the alien is to be removed from the United States").2 On October 1, 2018, Diaz Ortiz filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection, basing his request on multiple grounds, including persecution because of his evangelical Christian religion. He …
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