NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ____________ No. 20-1706 ____________ WALTER JAVIER TORRENTES-SINCLAIR, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ____________ On Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A0203-558-557) Immigration Judge: Marium S. Uddin ____________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) February 8, 2021 ____________ Before: CHAGARES, SCIRICA, and COWEN, Circuit Judges (Filed: September 28, 2021) ____________ OPINION* ____________ * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and, pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7, does not constitute binding precedent. CHAGARES, Circuit Judge. Walter Javier Torrentes-Sinclair petitions this Court to review a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the “BIA”) affirming the decision of an Immigration Judge (the “IJ,” and together with the BIA, the “agency”) denying Torrentes-Sinclair asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We will deny the petition. I. Torrentes-Sinclair, a citizen of Nicaragua, fled that country in June 2018 after several encounters with government and pro-government forces caused him to fear for his safety. As reflected in the Country Conditions Report, these encounters occurred against a backdrop of civil unrest. The Nicaraguan government, controlled by the Sandinista or FSLN party, approved unpopular social security reforms on April 16, 2018, sparking protests. Although President Daniel Ortega withdrew the reforms on April 22, the government’s repressive response to the protests caused the public uprising to continue. By the end of 2018, the government had instituted a policy of “‘exile, jail, or death’ for anyone perceived as opposition.” Admin. Record (“A.R.”) 252. Torrentes-Sinclair described several episodes that made him fear for his safety. Torrentes-Sinclair testified that on April 21, 2018, he was harassed by police for wearing a shirt depicting the Nicaraguan flag, a symbol of opposition to the black and red Sandinista flag. On April 23, he participated in a protest march in Managua, where he lived. As the protest neared the city university, Torrentes-Sinclair saw masked police deploy from unmarked trucks and beat the protestors. Torrentes-Sinclair asserted that 2 police kicked him to the ground and shot him in the face with a rubber bullet, requiring stitches. Torrentes-Sinclair testified that on May 8, 2018, an organizer for the pro- government Sandinista Youth organization named Ramon approached him on his way home, addressed him by name, and offered him work. Torrentes-Sinclair claimed that he recognized Ramon as the person who, with the help of police officers, had taken away his neighbor in a truck two weeks earlier. Torrentes-Sinclair refused Ramon’s offer. According to Torrentes-Sinclair, Ramon then called him a traitor, showed him video of the police being aggressive towards him at the April 23 protest, reminded him of the disappeared neighbor, and threatened that he “probably know[s] the consequences to this” and should be careful. A.R. 147. Following this encounter, Torrentes-Sinclair and his house were surveilled by Ramon and his associates. Finally, Torrentes-Sinclair joined in another protest on June 21. He testified that he was again …
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