Godofredo Quintanilla Orellana v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner Godofredo Quintanilla-Orella-na, an alien from El Salvador, and his brother-in-law witnessed Mara Salvatrucha (“MS-13”) gang members shoot a young boy. Petitioner and his brother-in-law reported what they had seen to the police and, on the basis of their report, the police arrested two MS-13 gang members. In retaliation, MS-13 members threatened to kill Petitioner and subsequently murdered his brother-in-law. Petitioner fled to the United States and now seeks asylum, with holding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).

Petitioner argues that he is entitled to asylum and withholding of removal as a member of a particular social group of “crime witnesses who give incriminating statements to the police against gangs.” Before the BIA, however, Petitioner argued for a broader definition of the social group to which he belonged: “people who have been persecuted by gang members in a country, which is unable or unwilling to control gang violence.” Nevertheless, in his brief to the BIA, Petitioner accurately described his particular situation, which fits into the narrower social group in which he now claims membership. Since the…