USCA11 Case: 20-14163 Date Filed: 07/16/2021 Page: 1 of 15 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 20-14163 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A208-976-212 JOSUE ERNESTO LEIVA-HERNANDEZ, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (July 16, 2021) USCA11 Case: 20-14163 Date Filed: 07/16/2021 Page: 2 of 15 Before WILSON, NEWSOM, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Josue Leiva-Hernandez seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’s (BIA) final order affirming the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). Leiva-Hernandez, a native and citizen of El Salvador, entered the United States on April 9, 2016. He was issued a Notice to Appear by the Department of Homeland Security, which charged him as removable under INA § 212(a)(6)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i), for being present in the United States without being admitted or paroled. At a hearing on May 2, 2017, Leiva-Hernandez admitted the allegations and conceded the charge. In March 2017, Leiva-Hernandez filed an application for asylum and withholding of removal based on his membership in a particular social group, and for CAT relief. According to his application, Leiva-Hernandez witnessed four gang members murder a taxi driver in La Libertad, El Salvador. After the murder, Leiva-Hernandez ran away to a mountain. He did not look to see if the gang members followed him, but he knows that the gang members know his name. As part of his application, Leiva-Hernandez’s mother submitted a declaration confirming his story. She also claimed that she was fearful for her son because she 2 USCA11 Case: 20-14163 Date Filed: 07/16/2021 Page: 3 of 15 knew local authorities would not protect him from the gang. She claimed that Leiva-Hernandez should not come back because she thought he would be murdered by the gang. With his application, Leiva-Hernandez submitted a United States Department of State 2016 Human Rights Report for El Salvador (Country Report) and a United Nations High Commissioner report (UNHCR Report). The reports noted that organized criminal elements, including gangs and drug traffickers, were significant perpetrators of violent crimes in El Salvador. The reports further stated that while the government has enacted laws banning gangs and increasing sentences for gang-related crimes, weaknesses and corruption in the El Salvadoran security forces and the judiciary resulted in a high level of impunity for crimes. At his merits hearing, Leiva-Hernandez stated that his asylum and withholding-of-removal claims were based on his membership in a particular social group, specifically “witnesses of criminal acts by gang organizations in La Libertad, El Salvador.” 1 He argued that he was unable to return to El Salvador 1 To establish asylum eligibility, the noncitizen must show (1) past persecution on account of a statutorily listed protected ground, or (2) a well-founded fear that the statutorily protected ground will cause future …
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Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals