Immigration – Removal

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Francisco Alberto Romero Arrazabal v. Loretta E Lynch

Case No.: 15-2413

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and POSNER and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Immigration – Removal

Judge acknowledgement that appellant may be tortured if returned to his native El Salvador warrants review of immigration judge decision.

“We are also concerned about the manner in which the immigration judge rejected Arrazabal’s claim for CAT relief. The judge acknowledged that it was possible that Arrazabal would be tortured in El Salvador with at least the acquiescence of the police, yet he concluded without elaboration that Arrazabal had not met his burden of showing that result was “more likely than not.” See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(c)(2–3). But that oft-repeated phrase must be understood pragmatically in the immigration context, because there is no reliable data to show just how great an applicant’s risk of torture is. See, e.g., Gutierrez-Rostran v. Lynch, 810 F.3d 497, 501 (7th Cir. 2016); Rodriguez-Molinero v. Lynch, 808 F.3d 1134, 1135–36 (7th Cir. 2015); Yi–Tu Lian v. Ashcroft, 379 F.3d 457, 461 (7th Cir. 2004). “All that can be said responsibly on the basis of actually obtainable information is that there is, or is not, a substantial risk that a given alien will be tortured if removed from the United States.” Rodriguez-Molinero, 808 F.3d at 1135–36.”

Petition for review granted

Order for Removal Vacated and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.