United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 17-1539 MARVIN JAVIER RUIZ-ESCOBAR, Petitioner, v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS, III, Respondent. PETITION FOR REVIEW OF AN ORDER OF THE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS Before Lynch, Circuit Judge, Souter,* Associate Justice, and Selya, Circuit Judge. Susan Kay Roses, with whom Michael P. Martel and Law Office of Michael P. Martel, Esq. were on brief, for petitioner. Emily B. Leung, Iris Gomez, and Massachusetts Law Reform Institute on brief for Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Greater Boston Legal Services, Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project, Catholic Social Services of Fall River, amici curiae. John F. Stanton, Trial Attorney, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, with whom Chad A. Readler, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, and Claire L. Workman, Senior Litigation Counsel, Office of Immigration Litigation, were on brief, for respondent. * Hon. David H. Souter, Associate Justice (Ret.) of the Supreme Court of the United States, sitting by designation. February 2, 2018 LYNCH, Circuit Judge. Marvin Javier Ruiz-Escobar sought withholding of removal ("WOR") and protection under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT"), claiming that he had experienced past persecution and faced a clear probability of future persecution in Honduras on account of his family membership. He had an evidentiary hearing before an Immigration Judge ("IJ"). There, he presented evidence that, he alleged, established that a narcotrafficking gang called Los Cachiros had killed a number of his family members in Honduras. The IJ denied Ruiz-Escobar's request for relief, finding that he failed to establish that he had suffered -- or was likely to suffer in the future -- harm that was both (1) sufficient to constitute persecution and (2) related to his family membership. The Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirmed in a decision described below. Ruiz-Escobar timely petitioned for review in this court. We also describe below the arguments in the petition. As none of the claims have merit, we deny his petition for review. I. Background A. Facts Ruiz-Escobar, a native and citizen of Honduras, first entered the United States illegally in May 2013 by crossing the Hidalgo, Texas border. He was apprehended, detained by the border patrol for several weeks, and interviewed by immigration officials - 3 - in June 2013. In a Record of Sworn Statement from that interview, which he signed, Ruiz-Escobar indicated that he had entered the United States to work and live in Boston, and that he had no fear of harm if he were returned to Honduras. On the basis of this information, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") removed Ruiz-Escobar to Honduras on June 18, 2013, pursuant to an expedited removal order. In November 2013, Ruiz-Escobar again entered the United States illegally. This time, he eluded the border patrol and found his way to Massachusetts. On or about July 21, 2016, Ruiz-Escobar was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after he was stopped by Massachusetts police for driving without a license. The next day, DHS notified Ruiz-Escobar of its decision ...
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