Walter Quijada-Aguilar v. Loretta E. Lynch

Walter Quijada-Aguilar seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) denial of his applications for withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) and the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), as well as deferral of removal under CAT. We grant his petition for review and remand for further proceedings.

Background

Walter Quijada-Aguilar (“Quijada-Aguilar”), a citizen of El Salvador, came to the United States in the mid-1970’s as a young boy. His family was fleeing violence in El Salvador, where his father and two uncles were military police officers. In 1992, he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, in violation of California Penal Code (“CPC”) § 192(a), and was sentenced to eleven years of imprisonment.

Quijada-Aguilar was placed in removal proceedings on September 19, 2005. He conceded removability, and sought several forms of relief from removal. As relevant to this appeal, he sought withholding of removal under the INA and CAT, and deferral of removal under CAT based on anticipated torture in El Salvador due to both his status as a criminal deportee and his affiliation with his family members who served in the Salvadoran…