Paiz-Morales v. Lynch, No. 14-1182 (1st Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, a native of Guatemala who entered the United States unlawfully, requested asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and voluntary departure. The immigration judge (IJ) granted Petitioner voluntary departure but held that he failed to meet his burden of showing that he was entitled to asylum, withholding of removal, or CAT protection. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed. The First Circuit denied Petitioner’s petition for judicial review, holding (1) new case law did not require a remand for reconsideration in light of the “clarification of the BIA’s position on the social visibility requirement of the asylum statute; (2) the BIA did not err in finding that Petitioner failed to establish a protected ground for asylum because Petitioner’s proposed social group was not a legally cognizable particular social group; and (3) the BIA did not err in dismissing Petitioner’s appeal of the denial of his application for withholding of removal.
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