19-145-ag Zepeda-Lopez, et al. v. Garland UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT August Term 2021 (Argued: September 15, 2021 Decided: June 28, 2022) Docket No. 19-145-ag CARLOS ALEXANDER ZEPEDA-LOPEZ, KARLA ARGENTINA ZEPEDA-LOPEZ, MELISSA ISABEL ZEPEDA-LOPEZ, WUENDY YESSENIA RODRIGUEZ-CERDA, MELISSA ALEXANDRA ZEPEDA-RODRIGUEZ, ANSONY EMMANUEL AGUILAR-CASTRO, Petitioners, v. MERRICK B. GARLAND, United States Attorney General, Respondent. ON PETITION FOR REVIEW OF AN ORDER OF THE BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS Before: LIVINGSTON, Chief Judge, AND CHIN AND NARDINI, Circuit Judges. Petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals entered December 14, 2018, dismissing an appeal from the decision of an Immigration Judge denying asylum and the withholding of removal to petitioners, who are dual citizens of Honduras and Nicaragua, and their relatives. The agency denied relief based on Matter of B-R-, where the BIA held that to qualify as a "refugee" under the Immigration and Nationality Act, dual nationals must show persecution in both their countries of nationality. 26 I. & N. Dec. 119, 121 (B.I.A. 2013). The agency determined that while petitioners demonstrated persecution in Honduras, they did not show persecution in Nicaragua, and it concluded that they were not refugees and therefore not eligible for asylum. We grant the petition for review and hold that, to qualify as a "refugee" under the INA, a dual national asylum applicant need only show persecution in any singular country of nationality. PETITION GRANTED, BIA DECISION VACATED, AND CASE REMANDED. CHRISTINA COLÓN WILLIAMS, Esperanza Center for Law & Advocacy, Norwalk, CT, for Petitioners. MONICA G. ANTOUN, Trial Attorney (Brian Boynton, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Shelley R. Goad, Assistant Director, on the brief), Office of 2 Immigration Litigation, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Respondent. JON BAUER, Asylum and Human Rights Clinic, University of Connecticut School of Law, Hartford, CT, for Amici Curiae HIAS, International Refugee Assistance Project, Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, and Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, in support of Petitioners. CHIN, Circuit Judge: Petitioners seek review of a December 14, 2018, decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the "BIA") affirming a decision of an Immigration Judge (the "IJ") denying asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT") to petitioners Carlos Alexander Zepeda- Lopez ("Carlos"), Karla Argentina Zepeda-Lopez ("Karla"), Melissa Isabel Zepeda-Lopez ("Melissa Isabel"), Wuendy Rodriguez-Cerda ("Wuendy"), Melissa Alexandra Zepeda-Rodriguez ("Melissa Alexandra"), and Ansony Emmanuel Aguilar-Castro ("Ansony") (collectively, "Petitioners") and ordering their removal to Nicaragua. Petitioners entered the United States in 2014 and were placed into removal proceedings later that year. Petitioners applied for asylum and withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (the "INA"), 3 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158 and 1231(b)(3), respectively, and for relief under CAT, see 8 C.F.R. § 208.16. Carlos, Karla, and Melissa Isabel are siblings, and all three are citizens of both Honduras and Nicaragua. They applied as the lead asylum respondents and designated Wuendy, Melissa Alexandra, and Ansony as derivative applicants. As a general matter, to be eligible for asylum and withholding of …
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