Cesar Leite v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Cesar Fiel Tavares Leite (“Leite”), a native and citizen of Brazil, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) reaffirming upon remand from us the denial of Leite’s application for withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231 (b)(3). We have jurisdiction to review a final order of the BIA under 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (a), and we deny the petition for review.

Leite asks us to reverse the BIA’s prec-edential determination that the REAL ID • Act altered the burden of proof for withholding claims. The BIA held that the “one central reason” nexus standard introduced by the REAL ID Act into the asylum statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (b)(l)(B)(i), applies to Leite’s application for withholding of removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1231 (b)(3)(A). Leite argues that the BIA’s decision ignores the Supreme Court’s proscriptions, pursuant to INS v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407 , 104 S.Ct. 2489 , 81 L.Ed.2d 321 (1984) and INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 , 107 S.Ct. 1207 , 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987), on importing standards between the asylum and withholding statutes and that the BIA’s decision fails to give the required effect to Congress’s omission of the “one central” reason…