Ortega v. Garland, No. 21-3253 (7th Cir. 2024)
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In the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Israel Juan Miguel Urzua Ortega, a Mexican citizen, petitioned for a review of an order by the Board of Immigration Appeals that denied his request for withholding of removal. Ortega had illegally reentered the United States and his prior order of removal was reinstated. However, he sought withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act, arguing that he would face persecution in Mexico from individuals the Mexican government would not control.
Ortega, who spent most of his life in Mexico City, faced multiple threats and attacks, including murder threats from his father's cousin, Tacho, a member of the Sinaloa cartel. He claimed that even while in the U.S., he continued receiving threats. Ortega was arrested in 2021 for driving on a revoked license, and his 2006 removal order was reinstated. He claimed a fear of returning to Mexico, but his claim was denied by an immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals, who found him ineligible for withholding of removal.
The court reviewed both the decisions of the immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals. The court applied a highly deferential standard of review and concluded that substantial evidence supported the decisions that Ortega failed to establish that he would be persecuted by groups or individuals that the Mexican government is unwilling or unable to control. The court noted that the Mexican government had been responsive to the prior threats against Ortega, that Tacho was incarcerated in Mexico, and that Ortega had continued to receive threats even while living in the United States. Therefore, the court denied the petition for review.
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