Opinion ID: 2789589
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application for Withholding of Removal and

Text: Protection Because asylum is not available to aliens who face reinstatement of a prior order of removal, 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(5), Gonzalez-Posadas could not seek asylum, but he did submit an application for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). In his application, he described the pattern of extortion and repeated attempts at recruitment to which he said the Maras subjected him. He also said the Maras approached two of his cousins, Herlindo Hernandez and Marvin Hernandez, and made similar attempts to lure them into joining the gang. When the two refused, the gang allegedly attacked Herlindo with machetes. Gonzalez-Posadas stated that, soon after attacking Herlindo, the Maras also tried to attack him with machetes, but he was able to hide for a few hours until they left. He claimed that an attempt to get law enforcement to intervene was useless because the police were “corrupt and weak” and did nothing. (A.R. at 230.) He further claimed that he feared torture and death because he had refused to join the Maras, had reported them to the police, and was on their “kill” list. Gonzalez-Posadas went on in his application to say that he feared rape, torture, and death because he had been “repeatedly raped” by his cousin Felipe, whom he identified 5 as a member of the Maras and who called him “gay,” “trash,” a “fag,” and “worth nothing.” (Id. at 223, 230.) In addition, he said that other family members discriminated against him because of their perception of his sexual orientation. Finally, Gonzalez-Posadas stated that, after his first removal from the United States and return to Honduras, the Maras’ threats worsened, which led to his second effort to enter the United States. He said that, three days after he left Honduras, the Maras shot and killed his cousin Marvin for refusing to join the gang, for being related to GonzalezPosadas who also refused to join the gang, and in retaliation for Gonzalez-Posadas’s decision to report the gang to the police.