United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 21-2333 ___________________________ Hugo Aguilar Montecinos lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner v. Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General of United States lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent ___________________________ No. 22-1438 ___________________________ Hugo Aguilar Montecinos lllllllllllllllllllllPetitioner v. Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General of United States lllllllllllllllllllllRespondent ____________ Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ____________ Submitted: December 13, 2022 Filed: February 10, 2023 ____________ Before SMITH, Chief Judge, ARNOLD and STRAS, Circuit Judges. ____________ ARNOLD, Circuit Judge. After conceding that he was removable from the United States for entering the country without being admitted or paroled, see 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i), Hugo Aguilar Montecinos applied for asylum on the ground that gangs in his native Honduras had persecuted him in the past and that he feared persecution from them should he return there. An immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals determined, as relevant, that any harm Aguilar had suffered bore no connection to his political opinions and denied his application. Aguilar petitions our court for review of the agency's decision and his motion to reconsider that decision, and we deny the petitions. In his initial application for asylum, Aguilar explained that he had been "threatened by the gang MS-13 because they wanted me to help collect 'rent' from people because I had a car," and he expressed a fear that, should he return to Honduras, "police and Ms13 can torture you, [and] the authorities would never find out." In a supplement to that application Aguilar provided a declaration explaining that, one afternoon in November 2012, four armed people robbed him and his wife of money and personal documents, among other things, and threatened to kill them if they told police. A week later Aguilar found a note on his car stating that "we have all of your information, where you live, what you do, what can you own, and you move around a lot in your car." It then said that "we want you [to] help us collect the war tax," and if he did, it "can save your life also your brothers, your wife's and children." Finally, the note warned, "We will be calling and we will be aware of you -2- and if you do not do it, you will be dead. MS13." Aguilar testified before an immigration judge that he didn't contact police "[b]ecause many times the police is actually working with them." Aguilar reported that, after he found the note, "[t]hey kept calling me, threatening me, and leaving me intimidating messages." He testified that they threatened to kill him and that they called two or three times a week for the next month or two. When asked why he thought the gang had selected him to collect the war tax, he surmised, "I think they did it because I have to go all over the country, and I am an honest person with no problems." Aguilar also provided a statement from his wife, who still lives in Honduras, in support …
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