Case: 18-60409 Document: 00515199327 Page: 1 Date Filed: 11/14/2019 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 18-60409 November 14, 2019 Lyle W. Cayce RICARDO ALMEDA-GUZMAN, also known as Guadalupe Federico Clerk Gutierrez-Villarreal, also known as Armando Contreras-Beltran, Petitioner v. WILLIAM P. BARR, U. S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals BIA No. A205 197 448 Before ELROD, WILLETT, and OLDHAM, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Ricardo Almeda-Guzman, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying his motion to remand and dismissing his appeal from the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of his applications for cancellation of removal, asylum, withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and relief under * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 18-60409 Document: 00515199327 Page: 2 Date Filed: 11/14/2019 No. 18-60409 the Convention Against Torture (CAT). He also moves for a remand for consideration of additional evidence. We deny the petition and the motion. I. Almeda-Guzman entered the United States without permission in 2007. About five years later, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began removal proceedings against him. Almeda-Guzman conceded removability. However, he applied for relief from removal on four primary grounds: cancellation of removal, asylum, withholding of removal under the INA, and relief under the CAT. 1 As to cancellation of removal, Almeda-Guzman argued that removal would cause exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his children. As to the other grounds for relief, he argued that his removal would result in his persecution at the hands of a drug-trafficking organization. He and several of his family members testified and submitted written statements in support of his applications for relief, and he also provided evidence of the conditions in Mexico. The IJ denied Almeda-Guzman’s applications and ordered him removed to Mexico. The IJ began by finding that Almeda-Guzman was not a credible witness. As bases for this finding, the IJ wrote that Almeda-Guzman’s demeanor was “confrontational” and “evasive,” and that he “avoided answering” some questions. The IJ listed examples of this behavior, such as Almeda-Guzman’s “evasive” answers to questions about his association with another individual, his criminal history, his finances, and his family life. The IJ found the testimony of Almeda-Guzman’s family members to be credible. 1Failing in these, Almeda-Guzman alternatively applied for voluntary departure. The IJ denied that application because of Almeda-Guzman’s “prior history of voluntary departures . . . and the use of aliases when encountered.” This denial was affirmed by the BIA, and Almeda-Guzman does not contest it in his petition for review. 2 Case: 18-60409 Document: 00515199327 Page: 3 Date Filed: 11/14/2019 No. 18-60409 On the merits, the IJ concluded that Almeda-Guzman’s application for cancellation of removal should ...
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