NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT 

_______________________

No. 23-1042

_______________________

DIEGO SICA-LOPEZ; S. B. S-P,

 Petitioners

v.

ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

_______________________

On Petition for Review of a Decision of the

Board of Immigration Appeals

(Agency Nos. A201-930-950 & A201-930-949)

Immigration Judge: Honorable David Cheng

__________________________

Submitted under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1 (a)

September 28, 2023

Before: KRAUSE, AMBRO, and SMITH, Circuit Judges

(Filed: September 29, 2023)

__________________________

OPINION*

__________________________

* This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not 

constitute binding precedent.
2

SMITH, Circuit Judge.

Diego Sica-Lopez and his son, S.B. S-P-,

1 are natives and citizens of Guatemala

who entered the United States in February 2019. They conceded the charge of 

removability, but applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the 

Convention Against Torture (CAT). Sica-Lopez claimed mistreatment amounting to 

persecution and torture based on his membership in a particular social group that had 

opposed a local mayor’s decision to allow a water company to divert river flow away 

from Sica-Lopez’s village. The company’s action caused a loss of water to Sica-Lopez’s

home and crops.

During a hearing before the Immigration Judge (IJ), the IJ actively engaged in the 

questioning of Sica-Lopez. The IJ found that Sica-Lopez was not credible and denied the 

applications of both Sica-Lopez and his son for immigration relief.2

 Sica-Lopez appealed

to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), asserting that he had been deprived of his 

right to due process because the IJ repeatedly took over questioning him during the 

hearing. Sica-Lopez also asserted that the adverse credibility finding was not supported 

by substantial evidence, and that his claims for asylum, withholding and CAT relief 

1 S.B. S-P- accompanied his father to the United States as a minor. At the hearing before 

the immigration judge, S.B. S-P- confirmed that he had obtained the age of majority. His 

application, however, derives from that of his father’s application.

2 The IJ concluded that Sica-Lopez’s asylum claim was time-barred but nevertheless 

addressed the merits of his asylum claim. 
3

should have been granted. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision and dismissed his appeal. 

This timely petition for review followed.3 We will deny that petition. 

I.

At the outset of the hearing, the IJ asked Sica-Lopez and his son if counsel had 

reviewed their applications with them and whether the applications were complete and 

correct. Although the IJ allowed both of them to make any necessary changes before the 

hearing began, both Sica-Lopez and his son saw no need to do so.

After hearing Sica-Lopez’s testimony, the IJ found that Sica-Lopez’s application

differed in several “substantial” respects from his testimony. A.R. 161. The disparities 

related to, inter alia: the timing of various encounters with the mayor and his supporters;

the description of what transpired during each incident; the extent of the physical contact 

to which Sica-Lopez was subjected; and the nature of threats that had been directed at 

him.

Although the IJ questioned Sica-Lopez multiple times during the hearing, often 

attempting to clarify his testimony, the IJ permitted Sica-Lopez’s counsel to resume 

questioning each time. After Sica-Lopez testified that “the water is still running” in his 

community, his counsel chose to rest his case. A.R. 239. The Government then crossexamined Sica-Lopez, clarifying that he had been hit only one time on the hand during 

3 The BIA had jurisdiction under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(b)(3) and § 1240.15. We have 

jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a). Because the BIA approved the findings of the IJ 

and discussed the IJ’s reasoning, we review both the IJ’s and BIA’s decisions. 

Abulashvili v. Att’y Gen., 663 F.3d 197, 202 (3d Cir. 2011). We apply de novo review to 

a constitutional due process claim. Hernandez Garmendia v. Att’y Gen., 28 F.4th 476, 

482 (3d Cir. 2022). Factual findings are reviewed for substantial evidence. Id.
4

the encounters with the mayor and his supporters. And Sica-Lopez conceded that his 

wife and children, who had remained in Guatemala, had not been threatened or harmed. 

Sica-Lopez contends that the IJ’s questioning deprived him of his right to due 

process, as we concluded was the case in Abulashvili v. Attorney General. 663 F.3d at 

207. We are not persuaded. Unlike what occurred in Abulashvili, the IJ’s questioning 

did not result in a failure by the IJ to consider the entire record. Id. at 208. Nor did the IJ 

ignore crucial aspects of Sica-Lopez’s testimony. Id. Rather, many of the IJ’s questions 

sought to clarify what had actually happened to Sica-Lopez, i.e., what was at the heart of 

his claim. While Sica-Lopez asserts that he was denied the opportunity to fully present 

his case, he has not explained how the presentation of his case was cut short or what facts 

he would have developed had it not been for the IJ’s own questioning. Sica-Lopez’s 

counsel questioned him initially on direct-examination and resumed her questioning after 

each of the IJ’s efforts to clarify matters. She also advised the IJ when she had no further 

questions. In the absence of a showing of some prejudice to the presentation of SicaLopez’s case, we reject his due process claim. Serrano-Alberto v. Att’y Gen., 859 F.3d 

208, 213 (3d Cir. 2017).

II.

Sica-Lopez also challenges the IJ’s adverse credibility finding, which the BIA 

concluded was not clearly erroneous.4

 Given the disparity between Sica-Lopez’s 

4 Credibility determinations are factual findings which we review for substantial 

evidence, Zheng v. Ashcroft, 417 F.3d 379, 381 (3d Cir. 2005), “meaning that the 

agency’s determination is conclusive unless the record compels a contrary 

determination.” Sunuwar v. Att’y Gen., 989 F.3d 239, 250 (3d Cir. 2021). 
5

testimony and his application and statement about what had transpired at the 

confrontations over the water projects—as well as when they occurred— and mindful of 

the IJ’s finding that Sica-Lopez’s testimony during the hearing was evasive, we conclude 

that there is substantial evidence to support the adverse credibility finding.

III.

Finally, we turn to the merits of Sica-Lopez’s claims. He does not now challenge 

the denial of his asylum application, pressing only his claims for withholding of removal 

and CAT relief. Nonetheless, we consider the denial of asylum because “an alien who 

fails to qualify for asylum is necessarily ineligible for withholding of removal.” 

Ghebrehiwot v. Att’y Gen., 467 F.3d 344, 351 (3d Cir. 2006). 

Even if Sica-Lopez had been a credible witness on his own behalf, we agree with 

the agency that Sica-Lopez failed to establish either past persecution or a well-founded 

fear of persecution necessary for asylum. Persecution “is an extreme concept that does 

not include every sort of treatment our society regards as offensive.” Fatin v. I.N.S., 12 

F.3d 1233, 1243 (3d Cir. 1993). Neither the encounters nor the threats that Sica-Lopez 

testified about rise to the level of persecution. Without such a showing, we agree with 

the agency that the evidence does not establish a basis for him to fear persecution if he 

were returned to Guatemala. Accordingly, we conclude that the agency did not err in 

rejecting Sica-Lopez’s claim for withholding of removal.

Sica-Lopez’s CAT claim also lacks sufficient merit. He did not meet his burden 

of proving that “it is more likely than not that he . . . would be tortured if removed” to 

Guatemala. 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)(2).
6

For the above reasons, we will deny both Sica-Lopez’s and S.B. S-P-’s petition for 

review.