Villegas-Viveros v. Holder, Jr., No. 10-2354 (8th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of the BIA's upholding of the denial of his application for deferral or removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Petitioner contended that the BIA evaluated his testimony under an improper legal standard, failed to correct errors by the IJ regarding the scope of the CAT, and violated his rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA's factual determination where the BIA did not err in its treatment of petitioner's testimony and the BIA determined that even assuming petitioner's testimony was honest or credible, his inability to provide important details and key dates made the testimony unpersuasive in establishing a likelihood of torture. Therefore, in light of 8 U.S.C. 1229(a)(c)(4)(B), this approach did not constitute an error of law. The court also held that the BIA applied the correct legal standard in dismissing petitioner's administrative appeal and that any error by the IJ was rendered harmless by the BIA's application of a correct legal standard. The court further held that petitioner had not established a violation of his rights under the Due Process Clause. Therefore, the petition for review was denied.
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