Ninth Circuit finds that DV Victim Demonstrated Government Unwillingness to Protect and Government Acquiescence

The Ninth Circuit has determined that a woman seeking asylum based on domestic violence demonstrated a government unwillingness to protect her and government acquiescence to torture of her when the police accepted a bribe from her abuser and left without speaking to or assisting her. The court did not reach the issue of whether the petitioner had established a cognizable particular social group.

The full text of Davila v. Barr can be found here:

https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2020/08/07/17-72173.pdf

Second Circuit Remands for Further Consideration of Police Ability to Protect

The Second Circuit has remanded the withholding of removal application of a former Jamaican police officer for further analysis of the Jamaican police force’s ability to protect him from harm. The court noted that while the police warned the petitioner that gang members were planning to kidnap his child, they did nothing to assist him in preventing the kidnapping, and in fact, told him he was “on his own.” The court, however, rejected the petitioner’s challenges to the new “unable to protect” standard articulated in Matter of A-B-, and remanded for the court to fully consider the evidence of the police force’s inability to protect using that new standard. The court also remanded for the agency to determine what significance a finding of government inability to protect would have for petitioner’s request for protection under the Convention Against Torture.

The full text of Scarlett v. Barr can be found here:

https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/ec637e79-751a-4c7c-be42-250e07dfdb75/22/doc/16-940_opn.pdf#xml=https://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/ec637e79-751a-4c7c-be42-250e07dfdb75/22/hilite/

Fourth Circuit Remands CAT claim

The Fourth Circuit remanded a claim for protection under the Convention Against Torture based on gang violence in El Salvador. The Court reprimanded the agency for selectively relying on the Department of State report to find that the Salvadoran government does not acquiescence to gang violence, even though the applicant had credibly testified that she twice had sought police protection, and twice had been turned away by the Salvadoran police.

The full text of Cabrera Vasquez v. Barr can be found here:

http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/181226.P.pdf

Third Circuit Clarifies Standard for Government Acquiescence

The Third Circuit has determined a government's general efforts to combat organized criminal groups do not preclude the possibility that it would acquiescence to the torture of a specific individual.  Dutton-Myrie submitted circumstantial evidence via live testimony and sworn letters attesting that the Panamanian government had not taken steps to protect him or his family in the past and would likely continue to breach the duty to intervene in the future. In particular, he submitted a letter from the Panamanian Public Safety Department attesting to continued threats to his family members and that his mother lodged grievances about these threats with public officials.  He also submitted an affidavit from his former girlfriend in which she stated that she reported a 2005 incident where Dutton-Myrie was stabbed by gang members to the police.  Dutton-Myrie also testified about the futility of reporting to the police.  The Third Circuit remanded the case, directing the Board of Immigration Appeals to assess whether this evidence demonstrated that the Panamanian government would be willfully blind regarding any future torture inflicted on Dutton-Myrie.  

The full text of Dutton-Myrie v. Attorney General can be found here:

http://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/161599p.pdf