The Fourth Circuit, in an en banc decision, has determined that the agency must consider a child’s age when determining whether harm he suffered rose to the level of persecution. The court also acknowledged that an issue may be exhausted by virtue of the agency addressing it in its decision, even if not raised in detail in the briefing before the agency. Notably, the court also determined that the issue of government protection was raised in the Notice of Appeal to the Board, and did not have to find exhaustion based solely on the Board’s analysis of the issue.
The full text of Portillo Flores v. Garland can be found here: