NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 18-3366 ___________ LEWIS MEDRANO, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ____________________________________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Agency No. A074-777-109) Immigration Judge: Denise Hochul ____________________________________ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) May 8, 2019 Before: GREENAWAY, Jr., RESTREPO, and FUENTES, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: December 2, 2019) ___________ OPINION * ___________ PER CURIAM * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. Luis Medrano petitions for review of the Immigration Judge’s determination, in a reasonable fear proceeding, that he was not entitled to relief from his reinstated removal order. For the reasons that follow, we will deny the petition for review. Medrano, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, entered the United States without being admitted or paroled in 1987. In 1994, he was convicted in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 63 months. In 1997, Medrano was placed in removal proceedings pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(i) (noncitizen present in United States without having been admitted or paroled); 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(C)(i) (noncitizen known or believed to be controlled substance trafficker; and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) (noncitizen convicted of violating laws relating to controlled substances). On May 28, 1997, he appeared before an Immigration Judge in Oakdale, Louisiana, conceded removability, and was ordered removed. He waived his appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals and was removed to the Dominican Republic on July 2, 1997. Apparently in 2004, Medrano re-entered the United States, again without being admitted or paroled. On July 27, 2018, Department of Homeland Security officers detained Medrano and reinstated his May 28, 1997 removal order. Medrano advised Newark immigration authorities that he feared returning to the Dominican Republic. On September 10, 2018, he was interviewed by an asylum officer in Newark. He told the 2 asylum officer that he feared that he would be killed if he returns to the Dominican Republic because members of that country’s military murdered his best friend in 1998. The friend was killed because he was having an affair with the wife of a high-ranking official. Medrano claimed that he encountered military officials at a police station in 1998, and they told him that they would kill him next because of his relationship with his friend. Medrano told the asylum officer that he lived in hiding for seven years in the Dominican Republic because of that threat. The asylum officer concluded that Medrano did not have a reasonable fear that he will be persecuted or tortured if he returns to the Dominican Republic. Regarding the possibility of persecution, the asylum officer determined that there was no nexus between the harm Medrano feared and his ...
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