CA1 Upholds Denial of Asylum as to Salvadoran Petitioner Who Was Threatened with Extortion by Gangs as a Teenager

Although the court agreed with the petitioner that the BIA had erred by failing to evaluate the severity of the mistreatment and threats she had received as a teenager in El Salvador through the eyes of a child pursuant to Hernandez-Ortiz v. Gonzales, the court nonetheless found that she had failed to establish a connection between her mistreatment and any protected ground. The court also found that it was precluded from considering the petitioner’s argument that the BIA had failed to address a procedural error in her hearing before the IJ because she had failed to raise it to the BIA. (Varela-Chavarria v. Garland, 11/9/23)