Court Opinion

ID: 9881062
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-29 17:00:55.046471+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:59:01.541659
License: Public Domain

NOT PRECEDENTIAL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.
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.
                                            2
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 cross-

examined 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.
                                             3
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 Sica-

Lopez’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).
                                               4
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).
                                              5
      For the above reasons, we will deny both Sica-Lopez’s and S.B. S-P-’s petition for

review.

                                           6