CA7 on Persecution, El Salvador, MS-13 - Arrazabal II

Arrazabal v. Barr

"This matter is before this court for a second time on Francisco Arrazabal’s pending requests for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). Arrazabal contends that he faces the likelihood of continued persecution and torture in his native El Salvador as someone who has renounced his membership in the notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang, more commonly known as MS-13. Two years ago, we remanded the matterto the Board of Immigration Appeals (the “Board” or “BIA”) for further proceedings after concluding that both the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) and the Board, in rejecting Arrazabal’s claims, had overlooked certain evidence that on its face corroborated Arrazabal’s account. Arrazabal v. Lynch, 822 F.3d 961 (7th Cir. 2016). The case returns to us now following a second hearing before an IJ, to whom additional evidence was presented, and another round of review before the Board, which again resulted in the denial of Arrazabal’s requests forrelief. Because the IJ and the Board mischaracterized certain evidence and yet again ignored the corroborative aspects of the evidence, we conclude that we must remand for further proceedings for a second time."

[Hats off to appointed pro bono counsel Samuel D. Block of Mayer Brown!]