- Court: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Archives
- Area(s) of Law: Immigration
- Date Filed: 10-21-2022
- Case #: 20-71529
- Judge(s)/Court Below: Berzon, J. for the Court; Gould, J.; Collins, J. dissenting
- Full Text Opinion
While in Guatemala, two police officers and three gang members beat Petitioner while attempting to rob him shortly after being deported from the U.S. in 2011. Not long after, Petitioner was arrested and beaten again after refusing to bribe the police. Authorities in Guatemala did not follow through on any investigation. The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denied Petitioner’s application under the Convention Against Torture. The BIA found Petitioner “is not likely to be subjected to torture with government acquiescence.” The Convention Against Torture prohibits the U.S. from returning anyone to a country where it is more than likely they would be tortured. The Court concluded the BIA mis-analyzed important considerations when evaluating future threats to Petitioner. The BIA believed that Petitioner did not know that his attackers were police officers despite Petitioner knowing some of his assailants for 20 years as residents of the same small town. The BIA also failed to consider routine human rights abuses and corruption of authorities in Guatemala. REMANDED.