Ernesto Gonzalez-Hernandez v. William Barr


NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 20a0414n.06 No. 19-3477 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT Jul 17, 2020 DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk ERNESTO GONZALEZ-HERNANDEZ, ) ) Petitioner, ) ON PETITION FOR REVIEW ) OF AN ORDER OF THE v. ) BOARD OF IMMIGRATION ) APPEALS WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, ) ) Respondent. ) OPINION Before: MOORE, CLAY, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Ernesto Gonzalez-Hernandez petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his applications for withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture. Because Gonzalez- Hernandez fails to address various bases upon which the IJ and BIA denied his applications, we DENY the petition for review. I. BACKGROUND Gonzalez-Hernandez is a native and citizen of Mexico. Administrative Record (“A.R.”) at 458 (Notice to Appear). He entered the United States in April 2006, id. at 407 (I-589 Appl. at 1), and was not admitted or paroled after inspection by an Immigration Officer, id. at 458 (Notice to Appear). After being served with a notice to appear, id., and conceding its removability charge, id. at 120 (Hr’g Tr. at 6), Gonzalez-Hernandez appeared before an immigration judge for removal No. 19-3477, Gonzalez-Hernandez v. Barr proceedings on December 19, 2017, and submitted an application for relief from deportation, id. at 416 (I-589 Appl. at 10). The IJ treated this application as an application for withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Id. at 121 (Hr’g Tr. at 7). A. Gonzalez-Hernandez’s Removal Proceedings Gonzalez-Hernandez testified in support of his applications for relief to the following information.1 In 2002, he was preparing to cross the border from Mexico to the United States when two individuals intercepted him and asked him to take a package across the border. Id. at 137–38. These individuals, unknown to Gonzalez-Hernandez, carried firearms and threatened him, but he refused and crossed the border without further incident. Id. at 139. He spent the day shopping in Brownsville, Texas, and returned to Mexico the same day. Id. at 140. Several months later, Gonzalez-Hernandez again crossed the border into the United States, this time without encountering anyone along the way. Id. at 145. In 2003, he prepared to cross the border again, but was intercepted by three individuals he did not know, two of whom carried firearms. Id. at 146–47. The individuals demanded that he take a package to the United States for them, but again Gonzalez-Hernandez refused, and he crossed safely into the United States, where he spent the day and then returned to Mexico. Id. at 147–48. On each of these trips, Gonzalez-Hernandez crossed into the United States lawfully with a visa. Id. at 149. He believed that the individuals who had stopped him and threatened to kill him were members of the Zetas, because they “are the only criminal group that operate[s] in that region.” Id. at 149–50. In 2004, Gonzalez-Hernandez received a tourist permit and returned to the United States. ...

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