Lester Espinoza v. Loretta E. Lynch

MEMORANDUM

Lester Espinoza, a native of Nicaragua, left his country in 1995 when he was approximately 16 years old. His family— and his father in particular — were supporters of the Liberal Party, which was in power in Nicaragua until 1979, the year when Espinoza was born. In 1979, however, the government was overthrown by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (the Sandinistas).

Espinoza claims that, since 1979, his family has faced persecution by the Sandinista government because of his family’s political affiliation. The immigration judge (IJ) denied Espinoza’s applications for relief from removal in December 2010, finding that his asylum claim was time-barred and that he had failed to make the requisite showings on his other claims. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)' dismissed Espinoza’s appeal in June 2012, assuming without deciding that his asylum claim was timely but rejecting it (and the other claims) on the merits.

Where “the BIA conducts a de novo review of an IJ’s decision, rather than adopting the IJ’s decision as its own, the Ninth Circuit reviews the BIA’s decision.” Ochoa v. Gonzales, 406 F.3d 1166, 1169 (9th Cir.2005). We must treat the agency’s findings…