NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604 Argued October 3, 2018 Decided November 15, 2018 Before DANIEL A. MANION, Circuit Judge DAVID F. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge MICHAEL B. BRENNAN, Circuit Judge No. 17‐3578 IGNACIO MEDINA‐ARAUJO Petition for Review of an Order of the Petitioner, Board of Immigration Appeals. v. No. A087‐618‐238 MATTHEW G. WHITAKER, Acting Attorney General of the United States, Respondent. O R D E R Ignacio Medina‐Araujo, a Mexican citizen, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeal’s denial of his motions to reconsider and to reopen removal proceedings to seek relief under the Convention Against Torture. Because the Board did not abuse its discretion in denying the motions, we deny the petition for review. No. 17‐3578 Page 2 Medina‐Araujo unlawfully entered the United States as a child and settled with his family in Chicago. As a teenager, Medina‐Araujo joined the Maniac Latin Disciples, a Chicago‐based Latino gang with ties to Mexico. Medina‐Araujo’s involvement with immigration officials stemmed from his criminal convictions and gang activities. In 1991 and later in 2002, Medina‐Araujo was convicted on several drug charges. Medina‐Araujo asserted that because of his affiliation with the Disciples, FBI officials approached him in 2009 while he was on supervised release. They offered him legal status under an S‐visa in exchange for his cooperation in prosecuting other gang members. (The S‐visa program gives legal status to otherwise inadmissible or deportable aliens who act as informants or witnesses in the prosecutions of criminal organizations.) For a two‐year period, Medina‐Araujo went undercover, wearing hidden cameras and participating in dozens of “controlled buys” of drugs and guns. He also testified before ten federal grand juries and participated in one state grand‐jury proceeding. But Medina‐Araujo said that authorities later withdrew their promise of an S‐visa, telling him there were not enough visas to go around. The FBI did offer him witness protection, which he declined. Medina‐Araujo’s cooperation with law enforcement made him an enemy of the gang. He began receiving anonymous phone messages from individuals threatening to kill him for betraying “black and blue” and a known Disciples gang member once followed him on the street. In late 2016, Medina‐Araujo was placed in removal proceedings and found removable as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony. (He was convicted in 1991 for delivery of a controlled substance and in 2002 for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a felon.) His case was referred to the immigration court, where he applied for asylum, withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Medina‐Araujo later acknowledged that his criminal history disqualified him from all forms of relief except deferral of removal under CAT. The immigration judge denied Medina‐Araujo’s application, finding that the evidence did not show a substantial risk of torture if Medina‐Araujo were removed to Mexico. ...
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