Pro Se CA4 PSG Remand: Luna-Deportillo v. Garland

Luna-Deportillo v. Garland

"The Board dismissed the Petitioners’ appeal after determining that Luna-Deportillo’s particular social group of the nuclear family of a teenage girl who was threatened due to her refusal to join a criminal gang and the gang’s perception that she was a “snitch” was not cognizable. The Board relied on the Attorney General’s decision in In re L-E-A-II to conclude that the Petitioners’ nuclear family was not socially distinct and was impermissibly circularly defined. In light of the Attorney General’s decision to vacate In re L-E-A-II in its entirety and our precedent holding that the nuclear family is the “prototypical example of a particular social group,” Crespin-Valladares v. Holder, 632 F.3d 117, 125 (4th Cir. 2011) (internal quotation marks omitted), we conclude that the Board erred by rejecting Luna-Deportillo’s particular social group for lacking social distinction. We further conclude that the particular social group was not impermissibly circularly defined. The particular social group of the nuclear family exists independently of the fact that the family members fear persecution on account of the criminal gang’s attempt to recruit Luna-Deportillo’s daughter. Accordingly, we grant the petition for review and remand the case to the Board for further proceedings.∗ ∗ We take no position on whether the Petitioners should be granted relief."