Jose Leonardo Martinez Castro v. U.S. Attorney General


Case: 19-13857 Date Filed: 06/29/2020 Page: 1 of 12 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 19-13857 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A205-766-906 JOSE LEONARDO MARTINEZ CASTRO, KAREN SOBEIDA LOPEZ DE MARTINEZ, MARIA JOSE MARTINEZ LOPEZ, SEVERIN DANIEL MARTINEZ LOPEZ, Petitioners, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (June 29, 2020) Before BRANCH, LAGOA, and HULL, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Case: 19-13857 Date Filed: 06/29/2020 Page: 2 of 12 Jose Martinez Castro 1 (“Martinez Castro”) petitions for review of the order by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) dismissing his appeal from the decision of the Immigration Judge (“IJ”). The IJ’s decision denied Martinez Castro’s application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 8 C.F.R. § 208.16 (“CAT”). 2 The government has moved for summary disposition of the petition and to stay the briefing schedule. Because Martinez Castro has abandoned his argument on a determinative issue—whether the government of his home county is unable or unwilling to protect him—we agree that summary denial is appropriate. Accordingly, we grant the government’s motion for summary disposition, deny the petition, and deny as moot the motion to stay the briefing schedule. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEEDURAL BACKGROUND Martinez Castro, a citizen and native of Honduras, entered the United States at Miami International Airport on or about January 15, 2013. In May 2013, the Department of Homeland Security served Martinez Castro with a notice to appear, 1 Jose Martinez Castro is the lead petitioner, and his wife, Karen Sobeida Lopez de Martinez, and their children, Maria and Severin Martinez Lopez, are co-petitioners. Because the co-petitioners are derivatives on Martinez Castro’s asylum application, we refer to the claims as Martinez Castro’s claims. 2 The IJ denied Martinez Castro’s application for relief under CAT. Martinez Castro raises no challenge the denial of this form of relief on appeal. We, therefore, need not address that claim. See Sepuleda v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 401 F.3d 1226, 1228 n.2 (11th Cir. 2005). 2 Case: 19-13857 Date Filed: 06/29/2020 Page: 3 of 12 charging him with removability under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) as an immigrant who was not in possession of a valid entry document at the time of application for admission. In September 2013, Martinez Castro appeared before an IJ and, through counsel, conceded removability. Martinez Castro then filed a form I-589 application for asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT relief. Martinez Castro checked boxes on the application indicating that he was seeking asylum or withholding of removal based on political opinion and membership in a particular social group. On the application, he stated that he was a member of the Association of Judges and Magistrates of Honduras, a “legal organization, whose principles are to promote justice, honesty, the defense of the rights of its members, and the respect and independence of judges ...

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