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Chavez v. Garland "Rommel Alexander Chavez, a citizen of El Salvador, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the denial of his application for withholding of removal under the Immigration...

H.H. v. Garland "Petitioner H.H. seeks review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") affirming the denial of his application for deferral of removal to Honduras under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT")....

Aleman-Medrano v. Garland "Aleman-Medrano’s central argument on appeal is that the agency [EOIR: the IJ and the BIA] erred at the second step of the analysis, improperly rejecting his claim that he was targeted by gang members “on account...

Portillo Flores v. Garland "When he was 15 years old, Hernan Portillo-Flores (“Petitioner”), a resident of El Salvador, sought refuge in the United States. When Petitioner was living in El Salvador, El Pelón, a leader of the...

Jeffrey S. Chase, Apr. 29, 2021 "In a recent blog post , I discussed the difficulty in establishing asylum based on a political opinion expressed against MS-13. In the specific case discussed, the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed the Immigration...

Melissa del Bosque, ProPublica, July 8, 2019 "With scant public notice, federal immigration officials are relying on databases run by foreign police and militaries to check whether migrants crossing the United States border have gang affiliations...

Merle Kahn writes: "The District Court for the Central District of California granted a discovery request in a consular processing case. [ Muñoz v. U.S. Dept. of State ] Generally, when I think about consular processing, I just think about...

Salgado-Sosa v. Sessions, Feb. 13, 2018 - "Reynaldo Salgado-Sosa, a native and citizen of Honduras, seeks asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. If he is returned to Honduras, he fears, he will face persecution...

"Aquino offered evidence that MS-13 subsequently killed his cousin, Vidal, and had previously killed his uncle, both of whom were members of Mara 18. We cannot agree with the Government’s characterization of this evidence as describing nothing...

Zavaleta Policiano v. Sessions - "[T]he IJ and BIA failed to appreciate, or even address, critical evidence in the record. ... we conclude that the BIA erred by affirming the IJ’s clearly erroneous finding. Zavaleta Policiano was not required...

Martinez v. Sessions, July 20, 2017 - "In this case, a removed alien challenges a reinstated removal order by claiming that he has a reasonable fear of being persecuted in his home country of El Salvador. An asylum officer interviewed the alien and...

"[W]e conclude that the BIA erred as a matter of law in its interpretation of the phrase “particular social group” by holding that former gang membership is not an immutable characteristic of a particular social group for purposes of...

Attorney Jean C. Han writes: "Attached please find a redacted opinion by Judge Schmidt in Arlington in a gang-related asylum case from June 12, 2012. He found that my client would more likely than not be persecuted on account of MS-13 if she were...

"The Court finds that the government of El Salvador is unable to control the MS-13. ... The Court finds that in light of the small size of El Salvador, the strength of the MS-13, and the fact that Respondent's religious proselytizing in El Salvador...