RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b) File Name: 20a0155p.06 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT MANUEL GUZMAN-VAZQUEZ, ┐ Petitioner, │ │ > No. 19-3417 v. │ │ │ WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, │ Respondent. │ ┘ On Petition for Review from the Board of Immigration Appeals; No. A 206 154 087. Decided and Filed: May 18, 2020 Before: MERRITT, MOORE, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. _________________ COUNSEL ON BRIEF: R. Andrew Free, LAW OFFICE OF R. ANDREW FREE, Nashville, Tennessee, for Petitioner. Patricia E. Bruckner, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. MOORE, J., delivered the opinion of the court in which MERRITT, J., joined. MURPHY, J. (pp. 30–51), delivered a separate dissenting opinion. No. 19-3417 Guzman-Vazquez v. Barr Page 2 _________________ OPINION _________________ KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. Manuel Guzman, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming an immigration judge’s denial of his application for withholding of removal.1 Because the IJ and BIA erred in failing to give Guzman an opportunity to explain why he could not reasonably obtain certain corroborative evidence, because substantial evidence does not support the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) and BIA’s determinations regarding the unavailability of evidence to corroborate Guzman’s claim about abuse by his stepfather, and because the BIA incorrectly required Guzman to demonstrate that his membership in a particular social group was “at least one central reason” for his persecution, we GRANT the petition for review, VACATE the BIA’s order, and REMAND for proceedings consistent with this opinion. I. BACKGROUND Manuel Guzman is a native and citizen of Mexico who has lived in the United States for over twenty years. Administrative Record (“A.R.”) at 177 (Appl. for Withholding at 1). After leaving home at age 14, he crossed the border between Mexico and California at 17 and has not returned to Mexico since. Id.; id. at 106 (Removal Proceedings Tr. (“Hr’g Tr.”) at 26). On July 17, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security served him with a notice of hearing for removal proceedings. Id. at 1010 (Notice of Hr’g). On July 18, 2016, Guzman applied for asylum, withholding of removal under § 241(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), and withholding and deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture. Id. at 91 (Hr’g Tr. at 12); id. at 41 (IJ Order). 1 At most points throughout the petitioner’s brief, he is referred to as “Guzman,” rather than Guzman- Vazquez. Accordingly, we refer to him in this opinion as “Guzman.” No. 19-3417 Guzman-Vazquez v. Barr Page 3 A. The Hearing At the hearing on his application for relief from removal, Guzman testified to the following information. He was born in the town of Estanzuela Grande in Oaxaca, Mexico. Id. at 117 (Hr’g Tr. at 37); id. at 177 (Appl. for Withholding at 1). He has one biological sister. Id. at 118 (Hr’g Tr. at 38); id. at 180 (Appl. for Withholding at ...
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