Ojo v. Garland, No. 19-3237 (2d Cir. 2022)
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The Second Circuit granted the petition for review and vacated the agency's denial of petitioner's claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) because those determinations were permeated with several legal and procedural errors.
Insofar as petitioner's request for asylum was rejected as untimely, the court concluded that the agency applied the wrong legal standard to his claim of changed circumstances and the agency's alternative discretionary determination failed to indicate the requisite examination of the totality of the circumstances. In regard to petitioner's application for withholding of removal, the court concluded that the agency erred when it incorrectly categorized his federal conviction for wire fraud and identity theft as "crimes against persons," and concluded that they fell within the ambit of "particularly serious crimes" without evaluating the elements of the offenses as required under the agency's own precedent. Finally, in regard to petitioner's CAT claim, the court concluded that the agency erred in determining that petitioner lacked a reasonable fear of future persecution or torture in Nigeria due to his status as a criminal deportee without even addressing the declaration of his expert supporting his claim. The court remanded for further proceedings.
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