Case: 18-60315 Document: 00514970507 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/24/2019 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 18-60315 May 24, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce NELSON ESIMAR MARTINEZ MANZANARES, Clerk Petitioner, v. WILLIAM P. BARR, U.S. Attorney General, Respondent. Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Before CLEMENT, DUNCAN, and OLDHAM, Circuit Judges. ANDREW S. OLDHAM, Circuit Judge: Nelson Esimar Martinez Manzanares (“Martinez”) unsuccessfully applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). He now asks us to review the government’s decision and to vacate the removal order. We deny the petition. I. In May 2014, Martinez entered the United States near McAllen, Texas, without the necessary entry documents. The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) began removal proceedings. Martinez applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection. He argued he had suffered Case: 18-60315 Document: 00514970507 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/24/2019 No. 18-60315 persecution in Honduras based on his membership in a particular social group related to his former work in law enforcement. A. Before an Immigration Judge (“IJ”), Martinez testified that he worked as a volunteer auxiliary police officer from 2005 to 2009 in the Honduran village of San Isidro, a small community located in the city of Victoria, in the department of Yoro. On May 14, 2009, he arrested Edwin Giovanni Megdoreta Montcodo, known as Edis, who was suspected of killing a man with a machete. Honduran authorities detained Edis for seventeen days before releasing him. According to Martinez, once released, Edis fled San Isidro for several years to avoid being tried and convicted for murder. Nearly five years later, however, Edis returned to San Isidro. In January 2014, as Martinez was about to leave church, people informed him Edis was outside. When Martinez left the building, Edis pulled out a gun. Bystanders intervened, however, and “didn’t allow [Edis] to do anything to [Martinez].” About a month later, Edis threatened Martinez again. Martinez was driving with his uncle and brother when he saw Edis outside of a bar-like establishment. Edis yelled that he was going to kill Martinez, pulled out a gun, and fired shots at the car. The bullets missed Martinez and the car. Martinez then pulled out his own gun, and Edis fled. Approximately two weeks later, on February 14, 2014, Martinez was riding a motorcycle to work when Edis emerged from tall grass with a shotgun. Edis pointed the shotgun at him. Martinez jumped into a nearby lake. When Edis approached the lake, Martinez swam away. Martinez testified before the IJ that he never reported any of the incidents to the police because the Honduran police do “not function.” Martinez did, however, report the first two incidents to a local mayor. Both times the mayor told Martinez that he could “take vengeance in [his] own hands” and 2 Case: 18-60315 Document: 00514970507 Page: 3 Date Filed: 05/24/2019 No. 18-60315 that he “had the ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals