CA11 on Nexus: Paz-Meza v. Atty. Gen.

Paz-Meza v. Atty. Gen. (unpub.)

"Tania Paz-Meza fled Honduras for the United States in 2014 after several close family members were killed and her brother, a police officer in Honduras for several years, was shot. She applied for asylum and withholding of removal, asserting that she and her family were being targeted by narcotraffickers for their connection to her brother, who ultimately was killed in 2017, and his police activities. The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), affirming the decision of an immigration judge (“IJ”), found that she was ineligible for asylum and withholding because she failed to establish a “nexus” between the killings and a statutorily protected ground. In the BIA’s view, Paz-Meza’s belief that the killings were all traceable to her brother and his police work was too speculative to support relief. She now petitions this Court for review. We now grant her petition. ... Based on the evidence submitted by Tania, we conclude that the BIA’s determination that the murders were not linked to Pedro and his police work, and that Pedro’s family members were not targeted because of the family relationship, is not “supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence on the record considered as a whole.” Silva, 448 F.3d at 1237. On the contrary, the evidence of record compels the conclusion that the persecution of Tania and her family were because of Pedro’s police work. ... We therefore grant the petition for review, reverse the rulings of the BIA and IJ, and remand to the BIA to remand to the IJ for proceedings consistent with this opinion."

[Hats off to Mark Prada and David Garcia!  (Motion to publish?)]