Oliverto Pirir-Boc v. Eric Holder, Jr.

Oliverto Pirir-Boc (“Pirir-Boc”) was granted asylum by the Immigration Judge (“IJ”) based on his well-founded fear of persecution as a member of a particular social group characterized as individuals “taking concrete steps to oppose gang membership and gang authority.” The Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) vacated the grant of asylum on the ground that Pirir-Boc’s “purported social group lacks the requisite particularity and social visibility.” Pirir-Boc filed a petition for review. After briefing was complete, this court issued the en banc decision, Henriquez-Rivas v. Holder, 707 F.3d 1081, 1083 (2013) (en banc), holding that “witnesses who testify against gang members” may be cognizable as a particular social group for the purposes of asylum. We then ordered supplemental briefing in this case. Three days before oral argument, the BIA issued two published decisions designed to clarify its interpretation of the phrase “particular social group”: Matter of W-G-R-, 26 I. & N. Dec. 208 (2014), and Matter of M-E-V-G-, 26 I. & N. Dec. 227 (2014). We hold that these two decisions do not affect the validity of Henriquez-Rivas , and we remand Pirir-Boc’s petition to the BIA for…