United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 18-2172 JOSE ANTONIO LOJA-PAGUAY, Petitioner, v. WILLIAM P. BARR,* UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. PETITION FOR REVIEW OF AN ORDER OF THE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS Before Torruella, Lynch, and Kayatta, Circuit Judges. Daniel T. Welch, Kevin MacMurray, and MacMurray & Associates on brief for petitioner. Brendan P. Hogan, Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, Joseph H. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, and Cindy S. Ferrier, Assistant Director, on brief for respondent. September 16, 2019 * Pursuant to Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2), Attorney General William P. Barr has been substituted for former Acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker as the respondent. LYNCH, Circuit Judge. Jose Antonio Loja-Paguay, a native and citizen of Ecuador, seeks review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decision affirming an Immigration Judge's (IJ) denial of his claims for asylum under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 208, 8 U.S.C. § 1158, withholding of removal under INA § 241(b)(3), 8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3), and protection under Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT).1 The IJ found that Loja was not a credible witness based on several discrepancies in his testimony that were not adequately explained, and the combination of that finding and the remaining evidence demonstrated that Loja had not met his burden for any relief. As to CAT relief, independent of Loja's testimony, the IJ found there was nothing to show Loja would be tortured upon his return to Ecuador. The IJ ordered him removed. The BIA affirmed. Loja argues to us that the BIA erred in determining he had not meaningfully challenged the adverse credibility finding, in affirming that finding, and in failing to consider all the evidence. Because there was substantial evidence supporting the 1 The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Dec. 10, 1984, 1465 U.N.T.S. 85, was implemented in the United States by the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, Pub. L. No. 105–277, § 2242, 112 Stat. 2681–761 (codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1231). - 2 - BIA's affirmance of the IJ's decision, we deny the petition for review. I. Loja entered the United States on January 11, 2013, near Hidalgo, Texas, and was apprehended by immigration officials. Loja stated that he entered the United States because "he was traveling to New Jersey to reside and to seek employment for approximately two years." An asylum officer conducted a credible fear interview with Loja in Spanish.2 Loja stated that he could not return to Ecuador because of a series of events that took place in November 2012. According to Loja, on November 15, 2012, two police officers entered his food store and "said [he] had to sell drugs and guns for them." Loja refused. On November 20, 2012, the two officers returned with a third officer and told Loja that "if [he] did not sell the drugs and guns," the officers would kill him. ...
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