Conde Quevedo v. Barr, No. 18-70078 (9th Cir. 2020)
Annotate this Case
Petitioner, a citizen of Guatemala, sought review of the BIA's denial of withholding of removal based on the agency's conclusion that the record does not establish that Guatemalan society recognizes "people who report the criminal activity of gangs to police" as a distinct social group.
The Ninth Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to review petitioner's renewed argument concerning relief under the Convention Against Torture, because the panel expressly disposed of the issue in a prior petition for review and the issue was not currently under consideration.
The panel also held that substantial evidence supported the BIA's conclusion that the record was devoid of any society specific evidence, such as country reports, background documents, or news articles, which would establish that persons who report the criminal activity of gangs to the police are perceived or recognized as a group by society in Guatemala. The panel explained that, although the record contained two State Department Human Rights Reports and a Congressional Research Service report, none of those documents discussed reporting gang violence to police, or any risks or barriers associated with doing so. Furthermore, the documents did not assert that Guatemalan society recognizes those who, without more, report gang violence as a distinct group. Furthermore, the testimony failed to support a finding of social recognition. Accordingly, the panel dismissed in part and denied in part.
Court Description: Immigration. The panel dismissed in part and denied in part a petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of withholding of removal to a citizen of Guatemala, holding that this court lacked jurisdiction to consider petitioner’s renewed arguments concerning Convention Against Torture relief because that issue exceeded the scope of this court’s prior remand, and that substantial evidence supported the Board’s determination that the record did not establish that Guatemalan society recognizes people who report the criminal activity of gangs to police as a distinct social group for purposes of withholding relief. The panel explained that the Board properly concluded that it could not consider petitioner’s CAT claim on remand, where this court expressly disposed of that issue in the prior petition for review, and remanded only for further consideration of petitioner’s withholding claim. The panel held that substantial evidence supported the Board’s determination that petitioner’s proposed social group of Guatemalans who report criminal activity of gangs to police was not cognizable due to the lack of society-specific evidence of social distinction. The panel explained that although country reports in evidence detailed the serious problem of gang violence in Guatemala, none of those documents discussed reporting gang violence to police, or CONDE QUEVEDO V. BARR 3 any risks or barriers associated with doing so, nor did any of those documents assert that Guatemalan society recognizes those who, without more, report gang violence as a distinct group. Similarly, the panel concluded that petitioner’s testimony failed to support a finding of social recognition, where petitioner testified that, as far as he knew, only his family and friends—not the community in general—knew that he had filed a report with the police. The panel concluded that petitioner’s proposed social group differed from the group recognized in Henriquez-Rivas v. Holder, 707 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2013) (en banc), people who testified publicly against gang members in criminal proceedings, because Henriquez-Rivas had testified in open court, and the Salvadoran government had enacted a special witness protection law to protect those who testify against violent criminals. In contrast, although petitioner reported his gang attack to the police, there was no evidence that he ever testified against gang members, nor was there evidence that Guatemalans who merely make reports to the police are offered special legal protection. The panel noted that in Henriquez-Rivas, the court did not intend to suggest that the public nature of one’s testimony was essential to social group cognizability, but because it was public, the court did not address whether Henriquez-Rivas would have been eligible had her conduct been private. The panel explained that Henriquez-Rivas, then, does not foreclose the possibility that reporting gang violence to police could suffice to establish eligibility, if, for example, there was evidence that, in a specific country, people in the community knew who reported crimes to the police, or if there were laws protecting those who did. 4 CONDE QUEVEDO V. BARR
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.