Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca4-16-01682/USCOURTS-ca4-16-01682-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Loretta E. Lynch
Respondent
Nelson Rodriguez
Petitioner

Document Text:

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 16-1682

NELSON RODRIGUEZ, a/k/a Nelson Rodriguez Rodriguez, a/k/a 

Frankie Ramirez, a/k/a Frankin Ramirez,

Petitioner,

v.

LORETTA E. LYNCH, Attorney General,

Respondent.

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration 

Appeals.

Submitted: September 29, 2016 Decided: October 3, 2016

Before SHEDD, KEENAN, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

Petition denied in part, dismissed in part by unpublished per 

curiam opinion.

Nelson Rodriguez, Petitioner Pro Se. Robbin Kinmonth Blaya, Office 

of Immigration Litigation, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, 

Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:

Nelson Rodriguez, a native and citizen of Honduras, petitions 

for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) 

dismissing his appeal from the immigration judge’s denial of his 

requests for withholding of removal and protection under the 

Convention Against Torture. 

On appeal, we confine our review to the issues raised in the 

petitioner’s informal brief. See 4th Cir. R. 34(b). Here, the 

agency denied Rodriguez’s application for withholding of removal 

on the ground that he failed to demonstrate a nexus between his 

fear of persecution and a protected ground. In his informal brief, 

Rodriguez fails to challenge the basis for the agency’s denial of 

withholding of removal and has therefore forfeited appellate 

review. See Suarez-Valenzuela v. Holder, 714 F.3d 241, 248-49 

(4th Cir. 2013) (deeming issues not raised in opening brief 

waived); Niang v. Gonzales, 492 F.3d 505, 510 n.5 (4th Cir. 2007) 

(same). We therefore deny the petition for review in part.

We lack jurisdiction to consider Rodriguez’s challenges to 

the immigration judge’s denial of his request for protection under 

the Convention Against Torture on the ground that he failed to 

exhaust his administrative remedies. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(d)(1) 

(2012); Massis v. Mukasey, 549 F.3d 631, 638-40 (4th Cir. 2008). 

We therefore dismiss this portion of the petition for review.

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Accordingly, although we grant leave to proceed in forma 

pauperis, we deny in part and dismiss in part the petition for 

review. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal 

contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this 

court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

PETITION DENIED IN PART;

DISMISSED IN PART

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