United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 17-1430 ___________________________ Henry Oswaldo Miranda lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner - Appellant v. Jefferson B. Sessions, III, Attorney General of the United States lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent - Appellee ____________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ____________ Submitted: January 9, 2018 Filed: June 11, 2018 ____________ Before WOLLMAN, COLLOTON, and BENTON, Circuit Judges. ____________ WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge. Henry Oswaldo Miranda, a native and citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) order reversing an Immigration Judge’s (IJ) decision granting Miranda withholding of removal. We deny the petition. On December 12, 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) charged Miranda with removal as an alien present in the United States without having been admitted or paroled. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). Miranda admitted to the DHS’s factual allegations and conceded removability. He requested withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)(A).1 During a hearing before the IJ, Miranda testified that he left El Salvador in 2008 because he was threatened by gang members and because the country was impoverished. In February 2007, Miranda was a moto-taxi driver in Quezaltepeque, El Salvador. One night, three MS-13 gang members stopped him and demanded a ride to a nearby town. Two of the men entered the back seat of the taxi, and the third person—a teenage boy—rode in the front passenger seat. While Miranda drove, one of the men took out a firearm and shot the boy in the head three times. After the boy fell out of the moto-taxi, the man pointed the firearm at Miranda, who stopped the vehicle. Miranda and the two men exited the moto-taxi, and the gunman shot the boy six times in the face, telling him, “You got this because you were talking.” Miranda understood that the man shot the boy because the boy had spoken ill of the MS-13 gang. As the two men fled, the shooter told Miranda, “You haven’t seen any of this. If you tell anyone about this, I am going to come back and kill you.” Miranda reported the incident to his employer, the owner of the taxi business, who did not report it to law enforcement. At that time, Miranda was a well-known taxi driver and a member of the union. Approximately one month after the shooting, Miranda saw one of the gang members at a local market. Miranda felt threatened when the man said, “They are looking for you. They are looking for you.” Miranda believed the statements meant that the MS-13 gang wanted him dead or that the victim’s family (who Miranda 1 Miranda also sought protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), which was denied. Miranda has not appealed from the denial of CAT relief. -2- believed to be associated with the MS-13 gang) wanted him dead. Miranda had heard through his half-sister that the victim’s family also was looking for him, that the boy’s mother eventually discovered that Miranda was the driver ...
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